Maple Ridge cyclist Maggie Coles-Lyster had a podium finish at the Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Ontario over the weekend.
Coles-Lyster took bronze in the women’s team pursuit event on Friday.
Racing together for the first time in the event, Sarah Van Dam, Coles-Lyster, Ariane Bonhomme and Erin Attwell finished third, powered by the cheering of their home crowd. They narrowly beat Team USA, placing behind Germany (silver) and Great Britain (gold).
“This gives us confidence. We’re a new team and since the Tokyo Games, we’ve been trying to rebuild our program,” commented Olympian Bonhomme. “We knew we were capable of doing this but everything needed to come together on race day. We’ve been trying for more than a year and today everything worked out. We know that this is the start of something special.”
Then on Sunday the Maple Ridge racer did four intense races in the omnium event, finishing seventh.
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“It’s a complex sport and there are so many details to refine,” Cycling Canada head coach Dan Proulx said.
“Rather than focus on the outcome, we have to make sure the training process and racing execution is optimized. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves. Obviously, we’re focused on Games qualification now. Our next points opportunity will be at the Pan American Championships in early June.”
Coles-Lyster has been left without a team, and a recent online post showed some of the uncertainty she is facing. Her Spanish team ZAAF has had financial problems, and her earlier B&B Hotels team disbanded.
“From B&B Hotels to ZAAF Cycling Team it’s felt like a whirlwind of highs and lows, stress, excitement of being back racing in Europe and lots of question marks,” she wrote on Instagram before the weekend of racing in Ontario.
“Due to worsening issues and conditions on ZAAF Cycling Team, I could no longer keep racing for them.
“Now I get to take a breath, put this energy into the Milton Nations Cup this week and sort out what the rest of my year will look like.”
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