We’re told to dream big when we’re young. Told that we can be whatever we want to be. For most, life has a funny habit of getting in the way. For some, those dreams come true. Going into the points race of the Omnium, Canadian Maggie Coles-Lyster was sitting in third place; a bronze would be just Canada’s 11th-ever Olympic medal in cycling. We all dared to dream.
Our story goes back to December 2022. Maggie had just signed for the new B&B Hotels team (remember them?) and I was having a mini-crisis navigating my transition out of the U23 ranks. We met when we moved in together; unusual, I know. Long story short, Maggie is a friend of my housemate, we were in the process of finding a new place and she ended up on the lease as well. I digress.
A kiss on New Years Eve, a quick trip to Amsterdam, and all of a sudden I found myself with a Canadian girlfriend. Ever since I met Maggie, the Olympics have been a topic of conversation. They’ve been that tiny speck of land on the horizon. We knew they were coming at some point; it just seemed as if we’d never get there.
August 10 – Sitting in a cute little cafe in Versailles, I smile as Maggie walks through the door. It’s the first time I’ve seen her in five weeks, and one of the few times we’ve seen each other since our respective seasons started in March.
Maggie splits her road calendar for Roland with prep for the Olympics, and I’ve spent my season gallivanting around the US as a gravel pro. It’s been rare that we’ve been on the same continent this year, let alone sitting across from each other. It’s less than 24 hours until the Olympic Omnium.
It’s as close to a normal day for us as we can get. Sitting in a speciality coffee place in some random city. We try not to talk about the Olympics, but they’re the elephant in the room and truly unavoidable as a new cyclist walks into the cafe every five minutes. When you find good coffee in France, the cyclists turn up.
We Uber back to the velodrome and watch some highlights from the World Championship Omnium that was on this track back in 2022. If you stay low, you get caught out quickly – especially in the elimination.
It’s 21:40 the same night, I walk back from watching the crazy men’s Madison race and back to my Airbnb. Maggie walks out of the Team Canada hotel to meet me. I sit with my legs crossed on a bench looking across at her, we share a chocolate cookie from Carrefour, and talk about a whole lot of nothing. In some 15 hours’ time, she’ll be on the start line of the biggest race of her life: the Olympic Omnium.
August 11 – Sometimes it’s hard to write when you’re emotional. Your brain doesn’t work in a logical way and the structure of a piece doesn’t come together as fast as the feelings inside your body.
Mags starts strong, finishing second in the scratch race after putting on a positioning masterclass in the final five laps. Only American Jen Valente, the defending Olympic Omnium champion and outright favourite, comes over the top of her.
The second race, the tempo, is simply fine. Nothing more, nothing less. A few of the favourites, including Valente, get up the road so the race behind is effectively neutralised. I hate the tempo race. But, anyway, onto elimination.
Maggie is good at elimination. It’s a race of positioning as well as a race of power, and Maggie is bloody good at positioning. If you’re a neutral, the elimination is the best race in the Omnium; if you’re watching someone you care about then it’s a bundle of stress.
Every two laps, the last rider over the line is eliminated. Get caught being slightly out of position at the bottom of the track then you’re out. She’s riding well, but playing with fire at times. After watching the Worlds footage with her last night, I knew exactly what to look out for; if she’d go too low I’d be stressing.
She’s gone, I’m convinced. We’re halfway through and it looks like she’s messed up and got caught out. She stays in the bunch. “Play to the whistle,” to use a football analogy. The commissaires announce it’s too close to call and there’s no elimination. Maggie, you’re playing with fire.
Big names start to drop. Lotte Kopecky gets eliminated and all of a sudden it’s down to three. Valente is in total control and Georgia Baker just pips Maggie to the line. 3rd place it is. One race to go.
Watching someone you love live out their dream in front of your eyes is special. But, it’s stressful. Every single move goes in slow motion. You’ve seen all of the work that’s gone into these few hours, and you know what the emotions afterwards are going to be like.
You can’t do anything except just sit back and watch.
There’s one moment from the day that will forever stick in my head. Maggie flicks up the track and rides past where we’re sitting having just finished third in that elimination race. To say she’s happy is an understatement – she’s smiling from ear-to-ear, she’s having the time of her life.
With one race to go, she’s sitting in the bronze medal position. I dare to dream and I know she’s daring to as well. Daring to think what could happen in the next half hour.
“I’m just gonna go have fun,” she texts me going into the final.
Having fun. Being happy. That’s the key to a good Maggie.
We all dare to dream, but not all dreams come true.
With 30 or so laps to go in the points race, Maggie’s head begins to do her telltale drop, the helmet drop which shows she’s starting to tire. She slips out of the medal positions; my heart tells me she can still nick another lap, my head tells me that I know my girlfriend and I know what it’s like being an athlete – she’s blowing up.
It’s ninth place in the end. A position on the results sheet that doesn’t necessarily reflect the ride itself. It’s a tight final race and until the final few minutes, we had no idea as to where the silver and bronze medals would go.
To quote Maggie herself, “It’s bittersweet.” She now knows she’s good enough to win an Olympic medal, but in only a slightly different version of reality, maybe that medal dream would have already come true.
What a bloody day. How many sleeps until LA?
So what’s next?
The closing ceremony followed by a night out in Paris? A holiday to some beach to …?
Of course not. A mere two hours after crossing the finish line, Maggie was whisked away in a Roland Pro Cycling team car – destination Rotterdam.
From the Olympic Omnium to the Tour de France in less than 24 hours. Living out one childhood dream is crazy. Living out two, well that’s just wild.
Did we do a good job with this story?