Lizzie Deignan captured the nations heart when she had the honour of being the first British athlete to win a medal – Silver – at the London 2012 Olympics. Lizzie went on to establish herself as a dominant rider on the international women’s peloton, achieving a lifelong dream by winning the 2015 UCI World Championship Road Race in Richmond, USA and the Tour of Flanders in 2016.
Having quickly graduated through the British Cycling system after being talent spotted at school at the age of 16, Lizzie started out on the track (winning multiple titles) but soon realised her heart was on the road, when in 2011 she won the British National Road Race title for the first of three times, and decided she would race on the road at London 2012. A decision she hasn’t looked back on having won a string of titles including the Commonwealth Games road race in 2014 and many podiums with her team from 2013 – 2018 Boels Dolmans.
After struggling with illness at the start of 2017 Lizzie soon found her stride supporting teammate Anna van der Breggen to the triple crown of Ardennes classics whilst taking 2nd in each race herself. Lizzie soon followed this up with a win in front of a home crowd at the Tour de Yorkshire before reclaiming the National Champions jersey, for the fourth time.
Lizzie took a season off racing in 2018 to have her first child, Orla. She announced her pregnancy alongside a desire to return to cycling at the highest level. Lizzie joined the newly formed Trek-Segafredo women’s road race team and made her return to the peloton in 2019 winning the Women’s Tour during the summer. Since 2018, each year Lizzie has released a collection of women’s cycling clothing in collaboration with Santini SMS and produced a series of films with them documenting her pregnancy and return to cycling – The Next Race.
During 2020, Lizzie had some fantastic results winning GP de Plouay and La Course, finishing as the UCI WomensTour Leader. 2021 has a mixed start with illness, but she produced some great results winning the Tour de Suisse and top results in the Giro Donne and La Course alongside a strong performance in the Olympic road race, part of an exciting spectacle. Without doubt an amazing day in her career was on Saturday 2nd October 2021, when Lizzie won the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes after pulling away from the peloton with more than 80km to go in a spectacular race. “I feel so incredibly proud – women’s cycling is at a turning point and today is part of history”, Lizzie said after her victory.
Lizzie announced her second pregnancy in early 2022, in tandem with extending her contract with Trek-Segafredo until 2024. Her son, Shea, was born in September and Lizzie is looking forward to being back out on the road with her team for the 2023 season.
Lizzie’s autobiography ‘Steadfast’, was published by Blink Publishing in April 2017 and tells the story of her meteoric rise and challenges along the way in her own words. Lizzie also received an MBE in the New Year Honours 2022.