Maggie Coles-Lyster
“TO win the rainbow stripes was huge,” says Maggie Coles-lyster of Maple Ridge, B.C., about her world title in the points race at the 2017 junior track cycling world championships. “It was awesome to see my goals and the work I had put in come to life and pay off,” she says of the whole year, which involved mostly track and road races. With her road schedule taking place March to September and track throughout the winter, there isn’t really an offseason. Coles-lyster had to take a break from ’cross, but would like to get into it again down the road. After having to take two months off during a busy 2016, her coach (a.k.a. Dad) really watches how she reacts to training and racing, and can plan for more strategically placed rest weeks throughout the year.
The 19 year old is working toward a bachelor of science (post-cycling, she’d love to pursue vet school) and has been juggling online courses because it gives her something else to do while travelling and racing. “It takes my mind off other pressures,” she says. For now, she’d really like to make a go at living as a pro athlete.
In January, Coles-lyster was named to the Macogep Argon 18 Girondins de Bordeaux powered by Mazda team. Later that month, she finished her first uci omnium at the elite level in fourth place in Belgium after winning in the points race. A few days later, she crashed going into her final lap in the scratch race of the omnium in Copenhagen, resulting in a fractured face, a pneumothorax (tear in the lung), fractured ribs and road rash.
“The big recovery piece will be seeing how severe of a concussion I have and how long my lung takes to fully recover,” she explains. “Once those two are good, I should be able to ride.” In fact, not long after the crash, ColesLyster was still planning to leave for road training in California within two months. With her positive outlook, Coles-lyster is optimistic about her recovery time, is anxious to get back on her bike as soon as possible to make a mark in 2018 and maintains that her Olympic goals are firmly intact.
“To win the rainbow stripes was huge.