Maggie Coles-Lyster is the new road race champion of Canada

Simone Boilard claims the U23 title

Photo by: Stefan Ritter

Rob Sturney June 26, 2022

Maggie Coles-Lyster is the new elite women’s road champion of Canada, winning the sprint from a reduced peloton on Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta. Simone Boilard took the U23 women’s crown. Four of the top-6 riders were U23.

Boilard, Milette and Barraclough on the U23 podium. Photo: Stefan Ritter

Maggie and sister Kaelen both raced the 116.8-km contest on Sunday.

Coles-Lyster sisters in the house. Elite women’s road nationals 60 min away pic.twitter.com/QtgFN3inT7

— Canadian Cycling Mag (@CanadianCycling) June 26, 2022

Sixty-eight Canadians started the race. New elite time trial champion Paula Findlay was one of a handful who didn’t start. Reigning champion Alison Jackson had worked through the illness that kept her from defending her 2021 chrono title and was ready.

Emotional.fr-Tornatech-GSC-Blagnac had a quintet in the hunt.

https://t.co/sEm0IpqkBN Girls are ready to race Nationals! pic.twitter.com/vGhJQrozQU

— Canadian Cycling Mag (@CanadianCycling) June 26, 2022

The elite and U23 women had 8 laps of 14.4 km to race. The pace on Lap 1 was high enough to put some folks out the back. Early on Lap 2 Caileigh Filmer of The Cyclery Racing dashed away. Filmer, who took coxless pairs rowing bronze in the Tokyo Olympic Games last July before coming 15th in last year’s nationals, stayed clear for several laps, with Jackson doing a lot of the chasing.

Caileigh Filmer got away for several laps of the 2022 elite/under-23 national championship road race in Edmonton. Photo: Stefan Ritter

Alison Jackson rides on the front during the elite and under-23 women’s national championship road race in Edmonton, 2022. Photo: Stefan Ritter

Filmer finally came to heel just before the penultimate lap. Emotional.fr-Tornatech-GSC-Blagnac led going into the bell lap.

Emotional.fr, Instafund Racing and the Cyclery Racing were all prominent at the front for the climax of the race. In the final sprint Coles-Lyster pipped Jackson for the elite victory, while Boilard edged out Laury Milette for the U23 title.

Elite Women
1) Maggie Coles-Lyster (DNA Pro Racing) 3:11:56
2) Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) s.t.
3) Emily Marcolini (3T-Q&M Team) s.t.

U23 Women
1) Simone Boilard (Saint Michel-Auber 93) 3:11:56
2) Laury Milette (Emotional.fr-Tornatech-GSC-Blagnac) s.t.
3) Ngaire Barraclough (The Cyclery) s.t.