Maggie Coles-Lyster has extended her contract with Human Powered Health through the end of 2028, securing another two seasons with the team after producing the strongest road campaign of her career.
The 27-year-old Canadian has emerged as one of Human Powered Health’s principal sprint options during 2026, winning the Schwalbe Women’s One Day Classic in Australia, reclaiming the Canadian road title and taking her first Women’s WorldTour podiums.
Those results have come little more than a year after surgery for iliac artery endofibrosis left significant uncertainty over what level she would be able to reach on her return.
“I’m really happy to renew with the team,” Coles-Lyster said. “Seeing the steps we’ve taken and the progress we’ve made over the past two years has been phenomenal, and I’m excited to continue being a part of this wave as the team keeps growing.
“There is also something to be said about continuing to work with familiar faces and in a familiar environment that’s easy and comfortable.”
The new contract extends a relationship which began when Coles-Lyster signed with Human Powered Health ahead of the 2025 season.
Australia provided the first sign that 2026 would be different
Coles-Lyster’s season began with the result she had spent years trying to achieve on the road.
At the Schwalbe Women’s One Day Classic in Tanunda, she crashed with two laps remaining, returned to the front group and still had enough left to win the reduced sprint ahead of Noemi Rüegg and Marta Lach.
It was her first professional road victory and immediately changed the tone of a season that had begun with questions about how she would respond after surgery.
The race report from her Tanunda victory showed why the result meant more than simply having the fastest sprint. Coles-Lyster had to recover from the crash, regain position and then execute the finish after spending valuable energy just getting back into contention.
“There is a whole mixture of feelings,” she said of her comeback season. “This has been my comeback year from iliac artery endofibrosis, so to be so successful so soon has honestly been a bit of a relief.
“You go into a surgery like that with so many questions like ‘will I be able to come back to a good level?’ so to do it and come back better than before is a great feeling.”
Giro podium showed Coles-Lyster could challenge at WorldTour level
The Australian victory established that Coles-Lyster could win again. The next step was showing that she could consistently challenge the strongest sprinters in the WorldTour.
That came at the Giro d’Italia Women.
On Stage 6 into Brescello, Coles-Lyster launched early from a technical finale and briefly looked capable of holding off Elisa Balsamo. The Italian eventually came past in the final metres, but second place gave Coles-Lyster one of the biggest road results of her career.
The Giro Stage 6 report also highlighted one of the areas in which Coles-Lyster has become particularly effective. The final kilometre contained repeated corners and narrow roads, rewarding positioning and the ability to carry speed as much as outright sprint power.
Those qualities have always been part of her racing. Her track background means she is comfortable in tight spaces and accustomed to making decisions quickly at high speed.
What changed in 2026 was how regularly she was able to arrive in a position to use them.
She added another second place at the Argenta Classic in July, finishing behind Lara Gillespie in Deurne. The Argenta Classic result continued a run of results which increasingly looked like consistency rather than isolated form.
Canadian title completed the comeback
Coles-Lyster then won the Canadian road championship for the second time in her career.
Returning to the Maple Leaf jersey carried additional significance in a season built around proving that the surgery had not reduced her ceiling.
Human Powered Health general manager Ro De Jonckere described the comeback as one of the team’s major stories of 2026.
“Maggie’s comeback has been one of the great stories of our season,” he said. “To come back from double iliac artery surgery and perform at the level she has is a huge achievement, and a testament to her determination and character.”
The Canadian jersey has been visible throughout the second half of the season as Coles-Lyster continued producing results against high-level sprint fields.
At the Tour of Britain Women in August, she finished second to Lorena Wiebes in Blackpool, with Kimberly Le Court-Pienaar third. The Stage 2 sprint provided another WorldTour podium and another direct comparison with one of the fastest riders in the sport.
Coles-Lyster did not beat Wiebes, but repeatedly reaching those finales represents a clear change from where she stood before surgery.
A WorldTour victory is now the target
That progression has also altered Coles-Lyster’s expectations.
“At the same time it’s all just left me wanting more,” she said. “The year started on a high, and since the middle of the season I’ve been more consistent than I’ve ever been before, so my standards and expectations for myself have changed and I’m excited to build on this.”
The next goal is straightforward.
“A big goal is a World Tour win,” she said. “I’ve gotten closer this year with my first World Tour podiums, and there’s still Chongming Island to come, but I want that win.”
The Tour of Chongming Island should provide another opportunity before the season ends, particularly for a rider whose best results increasingly come from fast finishes where positioning and race reading matter as much as a perfectly organised lead-out.
That makes the next two seasons particularly interesting.
Coles-Lyster is no longer simply trying to establish herself as Human Powered Health’s sprint option. She is now trying to move from regular top-level contender to WorldTour winner.
Human Powered Health see another level still to come
Human Powered Health entered 2026 with a roster built around shared leadership rather than one dominant rider, and Coles-Lyster has become increasingly important within that structure.
The 2026 Human Powered Health team guide identified sprinting as one of the areas where the team needed to improve its conversion of good positions into major results.
Coles-Lyster’s season has helped close that gap.
De Jonckere believes there is still more available.
“Maggie is so much more than her results,” he said. “She is an incredibly smart racer, a fantastic team player and someone who naturally brings energy and motivation to the group.
“She understands racing, she reads situations well, and she is always willing to put herself on the line for her teammates. We have seen some really strong results from her this year, and we believe there is still another level to come.”
That wider contribution matters within Human Powered Health’s sprint structure. Coles-Lyster can race for herself, but she also has the track skills and positioning ability required to work within lead-outs when another teammate has the better opportunity.
The team now have her secured through 2028 rather than facing another contract decision just as she reaches the strongest period of her road career.
Familiarity was part of the decision to stay
Coles-Lyster also pointed to the value of continuity.
Her first two seasons with Human Powered Health have included regular visits to the team’s performance facilities in Boston, where testing covers fitness, strength and body composition alongside the wider work of the coaching, medical and nutrition staff.
“I think my confidence in my racing over the two years I’ve been with the team has really developed a lot,” she said.
“Having the team backing me, learning so much from Magnus, all those pieces have really just come together to allow me to have such good performances and just really grow as a sprinter.”
The difference between the rider who joined Human Powered Health and the one extending through 2028 is now visible in the results.
Coles-Lyster arrived looking for a programme capable of helping her refine a career that had already included national titles, Olympic track racing and strong one-day performances.
Two years later, she has a first professional road win, another Canadian championship, WorldTour podiums and a realistic target of beating the sport’s leading sprinters at the highest level.
Human Powered Health will give her another two seasons to try.
