Road racing is back! Several Canadians have been racing in Australia—there’s been several races already, including the Tour Down Under. But on Saturday, it might be a big day for two Canadian women, Visma–Lease a Bike’s Sarah Van Dam and Human Powered Health’s Maggie Coles-Lyster.
They will be racing at the next stop of the WorldTour, the Cadel Evans Road Race.
Van Dam has been so, so close to a big win. And Coles-Lyster just had her first pro victory—after a long comeback.
Coles-Lyster shines down under
On Jan. 21, the 26-year-old from Maple Ridge, B.C., took the win at the Santos Tour Down Under Women’s One Day Race. Not only was it the first pro win of her career, it also happened just six months after undergoing surgery for Flow Limitation of the Iliac Artery (FLIA).
“I was both speechless, and it just felt right,” Coles-Lyster said after the finish. “I have a lot of self-belief and knew it was a matter of time and that the win would come. I just felt so much relief to have been able to prove to myself that I’m on the comeback and already better than ever.”
Earlier in 2025, she realized something was wrong. Despite good training, she couldn’t stay with the peloton once races heated up. “As soon as it got hard, I just couldn’t keep up,” she said. She wondered if she was still sick or dealing with an energy issue. One leg felt unusually sore—nothing like normal muscle fatigue.
After extensive testing, doctors diagnosed her with flow limitation in the iliac artery (FLIA), a condition that restricts blood flow to the legs under effort. It was essentially robbing her of power.
She started from the bottom, now we’re here 🏆
From FLIA surgery last summer to winning the @tourdownunder Women’s One Day Race, Maggie Coles-Lyster, you are a hero!
What a journey, what an inspiration.
📸 @GettySport #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/PdihNaRj6S
— Human Powered Health Cycling (@hphcycling) January 21, 2026
She underwent surgery to remove fibrotic tissue narrowing the artery. “They told me they couldn’t believe I’d been training with that much fibrosis,” she said. “It proved I wasn’t imagining it—and my feet were warm for the first time in months.”
Recovery started slowly: walking, then the elliptical, daily scar massage. When she finally returned to the bike, even 100 watts felt like endurance for weeks.
Van Dam’s fine form
The Cadel Evans Road Race—named after the former Tour de France…
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