Representing not only Maple Ridge but all of Canada at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Maggie Coles-Lyster has had a very busy start to her August.
The star cyclist might not have had a medal put around her neck, but she did put on quite a performance, managing to break into the top 10 spots for both the Women's Team Pursuit and Women Omnium events, where she finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
She had an especially strong start to the Omnium event, finishing in second place in the scratch race, which was the first of four races in the competition.
Coles-Lyster had a bit of a setback in the tempo race though, crossing the line in 10th place. But she quickly recovered in time for the third race 鈥� the elimination race 鈥� where she blew past the competition and got third.
"I was absolutely on cloud nine to be sitting in the bronze medal position after the first three races," Coles-Lyster wrote on social media.
"I fought with everything I had for that medal in the points race but just couldn鈥檛 quite take the lap I needed to take to make it happen. Bittersweet for sure, but there鈥檚 comfort in knowing I gave it what I had."
Her Olympic performances wrapped up on Aug. 11 and then she had to immediately race off to the Netherlands, where the Tour de France Femmes 2024 kicked off the next day.
This 948-km race takes female cyclists across Belgium and into the deep south of France, where the finish line is at Alpe d'Huez.
Coles-Lyster was one of six cyclists competing for the Switzerland-based Roland team, and was also one of only six Canadian cyclists in the entire event.
Unfortunately, the wear and tear of the Olympics put Coles-Lyster at a bit of a disadvantage, resulting in her having a tough first stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
"I knew coming to the Tour de France Femmes straight from the Olympics after 1.5 months of team pursuit and Omnium-focused training was going to be quite the hurdle, but with two dreamy sprint stages at the front end, it was a hurdle that was hard to resist," wrote Coles-Lyster.
Despite the early setback, the Maple Ridge cyclist used her determination and grit to dominate in the second stage, where she managed to finish in eighth place.
In stage three, which was the short individual time trial, Coles-Lyster finished in the middle of the pack at 80th place.
But that was where her Tour de France Femmes journey ended, with Coles-Lyster withdrawing from the race in the fourth stage, making her the second Canadian and also second member of her Roland team to do so.
"Really glad I gave a stab at it and managed to pull it together after the crash for a top 10 on stage two," wrote Coles-Lyster.
She'll now return to Spain, where she currently resides, and get some much-needed rest.
The Tour de France Femmes will wrap up on Sunday, Aug. 18.
