Lizzie Deignan ‘incredibly emotional' ahead of Tour of Britain farewell
After announcing in November that this would be her final season as a professional, Deignan has been saying her goodbyes at races all year.
But it will mean a little more at her last event on British soil, a race she has won twice in its previous guise as the Women's Tour, and one that this year happens to start on home roads in Yorkshire.
'I'll feel incredibly emotional,' Deignan told the PA news agency.
'I've been there at the start of women's cycling when we were fighting just to be included at races. I grew up watching the men's Tour of Britain and there was no option for the women.
'Now I will be at the start line with however many WorldTour teams, all the WorldTour women from the UK representing cycling. I think it will just be a moment of reflection for me to think, gosh, how far we've come.'
Deignan was on the start line for the first Women's Tour in 2014, won it in both 2016 and 2019, and will be racing it for an eighth time when the opening stage rolls out of Dalby Forest on Thursday.
The 36-year-old first toyed with retirement back in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.
Last year might also have been her last before she decided on 'one last dance' with Lidl-Trek this term.
Part of what kept Deignan going was the expansion of the calendar as more of cycling's top races added women's editions.
'I think if I had retired any earlier than now I would have had regrets, definitely, sitting at home watching all these opportunities unfold,' Deignan said.
'I can be really proud and pleased with the last five, six years of my career where I've got to feel truly like a professional, to be respected and to have opportunities equal to the men.'
The London 2012 silver medallist won a world title in 2015 but, as a youngster, could have never imagined she would go on to win Paris-Roubaix or Liege-Bastogne-Liege because those races did not launch women's events until 2021 and 2017 respectively.
Lizzie Deignan won the first of her two Women's Tour titles in 2016 (Rui Vieira/PA)
She said: 'When I first started I couldn't dream of winning Monuments because we only had the Tour of Flanders, that was the biggest dream and I won it (in 2016), but now we have Milan-San Remo, Liege and Roubaix, we're just missing Lombardy now.
'So my career and goals have evolved alongside the sport. It's been an amazing journey to go on.'
That 2015 world title is, on paper, the greatest of Deignan's 43 professional victories, but the Otley-born rider ranks her 2020 Liege-Bastogne-Liege win and memorable Paris-Roubaix triumph in 2021 just as highly as both came after the birth of the first of her two children.
'I did both of those as a mother,' she said.
'Just managing all the expectations and balancing everything was an incredibly difficult thing to do. And I pulled it off. So that personally is what I'm most proud of.'
Deignan does not yet know what retirement holds for her, other than being clear she will remain active in the sport that has given her so much.
Ahead of the Tour of Britain, Deignan has partnered with the race sponsor Lloyds on a programme to promote participation in cycling for people of all ages by providing greater access to equipment and experiences, and she wants to keep giving back.
'I've done my competitive bit and I'm passionate about staying in the sport but in a different way,' Deignan said.
'It's really important that participation and inclusivity stays part of the sport. Cycling can do much good for people, for people's self-confidence, and for the community.'
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