Latest news with #Deignan
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lizzie Deignan's farewell tour off to tricky start on Yorkshire home roads
Kim Le Court and Kristen Faulkner congratulate each other on finishing first and second respectively. Kim Le Court and Kristen Faulkner congratulate each other on finishing first and second respectively. Photograph: Olly Hassell/ There was personal celebration but professional frustration for Lizzie Deignan on the opening day of her final Tour of Britain when her Lidl-Trek team failed to stop the Mauritian national champion, Kim Le Court, taking the first stage win and overall race lead in Redcar. Deignan's valedictory race on British roads began with a fast 85.6km opening stage, from Dalby Forest to the beachfront in Redcar, and took in some of her longstanding training roads within an hour or so of her home in Otley, West Yorkshire. Advertisement Related: Simon Yates rides away with prize of Giro d'Italia while rivals lose the plot | William Fotheringham But although her team had strength in depth in the 20-rider pursuit of the day's breakaway, they proved unable to close down Le Court and Kristen Faulkner, the Olympic champion, who stayed clear to contest the seaside finish. 'We had a clear plan and executed it exactly as we wanted,' said Le Court, riding for the AG Insurance-Soudal team. 'I'm really happy that the legs reacted and I was able to pull it off for the team. We'll see how long I can keep the jersey for. Friday is a stage that suits me a bit more, so I'm going in with a bit more confidence than today.' Deignan was prominent throughout the stage, but whenLe Court, winner of this year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, broke clear on Langburn's Bank, the steepest gradient of the second classified climb, Deignan's Lidl-Trek team was distanced. Advertisement Le Court's powerful acceleration on the 16% sections at the base of the climb proved too much for her rivals, including Deignan's teammate, the Paris 2024 silver medallist Anna Henderson, who tried to give chase but was unable to follow the move. Only Faulkner, of EF Education-Oatly, was able to close the gap and the pair, who joined forces on the descent, then worked together to build a half-minute lead on their pursuers during the undulating run into Redcar. Even though Deignan's team had four of their five riders in the chasing group, and were aided both by Cat Ferguson's Movistar team and the French FDJ-Suez team, they were unable to close down the half-minute advantage. But Faulkner almost came unstuck on a right-hand bend in the closing kilometres, misjudging her speed and skidding to a halt against a traffic island. Sportingly, Le Court, knowing that their break had a better chance of success if the pair stayed together, waited for the American. While Lorena Wiebes, a past stage winner, took third in the sprint, Ferguson, making her debut in the race, was the first British finisher on the stage, finishing fifth. The junior world road race champion is now sixth overall, 18 seconds adrift of Le Court. Advertisement Ferguson, who also took the lead in the best young rider classification, admitted she had expected there to be a regrouping in the final kilometres. 'I thought it would definitely come down to a sprint,' the 19-year-old said, 'so for the two to stay away was a surprise. They were too strong, so credit to them for staying away.' By her own admission Deignan's days as an overall contender are probably gone, but Skipton-born Ferguson, seen as her natural heir, is well-placed to make an impact as the race goes on. 'I've not thought about my strategy yet,' she said, 'but I'm just going to take it day by day and approach each day like we did today, like a real team.' Friday's second stage of the four-day race takes the peloton from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-sea and finishes with the infamous hairpins of Saltburn Bank, the venue for recent National Championships. The steep climb to the finish is well-known to British riders in the peloton and was pivotal to the outcome of the women's road race in 2023 and 2024, both of which were won by Pfeiffer Georgi, of the Picnic PostNL team.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Lizzie Deignan's farewell tour off to tricky start on Yorkshire home roads
There was personal celebration but professional frustration for Lizzie Deignan on the opening day of her final Tour of Britain when her Lidl-Trek team failed to stop the Mauritian national champion, Kim Le Court, taking the first stage win and overall race lead in Redcar. Deignan's valedictory race on British roads began with a fast 85.6km opening stage, from Dalby Forest to the beachfront in Redcar, and took in some of her longstanding training roads within an hour or so of her home in Otley, West Yorkshire. But although her team had strength in depth in the 20-rider pursuit of the day's breakaway, they proved unable to close down Le Court and Kristen Faulkner, the Olympic champion, who stayed clear to contest the seaside finish. 'We had a clear plan and executed it exactly as we wanted,' said Le Court, riding for the AG Insurance-Soudal team. 'I'm really happy that the legs reacted and I was able to pull it off for the team. We'll see how long I can keep the jersey for. Friday is a stage that suits me a bit more, so I'm going in with a bit more confidence than today.' Deignan was prominent throughout the stage, but whenLe Court, winner of this year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, broke clear on Langburn's Bank, the steepest gradient of the second classified climb, Deignan's Lidl-Trek team was distanced. Le Court's powerful acceleration on the 16% sections at the base of the climb proved too much for her rivals, including Deignan's teammate, the Paris 2024 silver medallist Anna Henderson, who tried to give chase but was unable to follow the move. Only Faulkner, of EF Education-Oatly, was able to close the gap and the pair, who joined forces on the descent, then worked together to build a half-minute lead on their pursuers during the undulating run into Redcar. Even though Deignan's team had four of their five riders in the chasing group, and were aided both by Cat Ferguson's Movistar team and the French FDJ-Suez team, they were unable to close down the half-minute advantage. But Faulkner almost came unstuck on a right-hand bend in the closing kilometres, misjudging her speed and skidding to a halt against a traffic island. Sportingly, Le Court, knowing that their break had a better chance of success if the pair stayed together, waited for the American. While Lorena Wiebes, a past stage winner, took third in the sprint, Ferguson, making her debut in the race, was the first British finisher on the stage, finishing fifth. The junior world road race champion is now sixth overall, 18 seconds adrift of Le Court. Ferguson, who also took the lead in the best young rider classification, admitted she had expected there to be a regrouping in the final kilometres. 'I thought it would definitely come down to a sprint,' the 19-year-old said, 'so for the two to stay away was a surprise. They were too strong, so credit to them for staying away.' By her own admission Deignan's days as an overall contender are probably gone, but Skipton-born Ferguson, seen as her natural heir, is well-placed to make an impact as the race goes on. 'I've not thought about my strategy yet,' she said, 'but I'm just going to take it day by day and approach each day like we did today, like a real team.' Friday's second stage of the four-day race takes the peloton from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-sea and finishes with the infamous hairpins of Saltburn Bank, the venue for recent National Championships. The steep climb to the finish is well-known to British riders in the peloton and was pivotal to the outcome of the women's road race in 2023 and 2024, both of which were won by Pfeiffer Georgi, of the Picnic PostNL team.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lizzie Deignan ‘emotional' as she prepares for final race in Britain
An emotional Lizzie Deignan will end her years racing on home roads with a farewell appearance in the four-day Tour of Britain, which begins in Dalby Forest. 'I'm really pleased that the race starts in Yorkshire and finishes in Glasgow, because I've got amazing memories of my career there,' she said. 'I'm really excited about it.' The 36-year-old retires at the end of this season and described herself as 'incredibly emotional' over coming to the end of a career that included an Olympic silver medal at London 2012 and a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow in 2014, as well as victory in the first women's Paris-Roubaix and the world road race title in 2015. Advertisement Related: Edinburgh and Yorkshire to host Tour de France Grand Départs in 2027 'I realise how privileged I have been to do this for a career,' she said. 'I just feel lucky it's my choice that it's my last time, because not every athlete gets to do that. I know it's my last one going into every race this year, and I feel like I can make the most of it. It's really liberating.' Even with a British Grand Départ to the Tour de France Femmes confirmed for 2027, Deignan said she had 'definitely made the right decision' to quit the sport. Deignan, now with the Lidl-Trek team, has been a trailblazer as an elite endurance athlete who has juggled parenting and racing at the highest level, as well as being as an influential figure in the rapid growth of women's cycling. 'Half of the races that I've won weren't even on the calendar when I first started,' she said. 'I've grown up alongside the sport. When I started, everyone was racing just for passion.' Advertisement If there is a natural heir to Deignan, it may be the 19-year-old Cat Ferguson, who is making her debut in the Tour of Britain, riding for Movistar. She was the revelation of last year's UCI World Road Championships, winning the junior time trial and road race. 'Cat's definitely got an amazing future,' Deignan said, 'and she is stepping into what is now a really professional sport. She has so many amazing opportunities and she will experience such a different level of professionalism compared to what we had. It's really exciting to see this next generation of British female riders.' Ferguson's first season racing at World Tour level has had its ups and downs, including a solid performance in her debut Grand Tour, the women's Vuelta, but also a heavy fall caused by a wandering spectator during April's Paris-Roubaix. 'That was my race over,' Ferguson said. 'There's been a lot of bad luck, alongside the good things. That's the reality of racing in the World Tour. Not every race goes your way and when it does go wrong, it's a lot harder to come back from.' Advertisement Ferguson will be one of the headline names of a peloton that includes the Olympic road race champion, Kristen Faulkner, racing for EF Education-Oatly, and Anna Henderson, silver medallist in the time trial at the Paris Olympics and teammate to Deignan at Lidl-Trek. 'Out of all the races I've done this year, I'm really excited for this one,' Ferguson said. 'This a really competitive field and doing well is definitely one of my goals.' If Sunday's circuit race in Glasgow will remind Deignan of her 2014 Commonwealth Games success, the opening couple of stages, from Dalby Forest to Redcar and Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, are more familiar to the Otley-born rider than some of her rivals. 'I know what to expect in terms of the conditions, and from British soggy, slow roads,' she said. 'I think I'll be at a bit of an advantage to some, although they're not quite my 'home' roads.' Rod Ellingworth, now in his second year as race director to the Tours of Britain, revealed that a different finish to the race to celebrate Deignan's career, had been under consideration. 'There were a few different ideas,' he said. 'Could we finish in Yorkshire for Lizzie?, for example. But you get a city like Glasgow coming in and they want it as a Festival of Cycling, so then, it's 'OK, this is the obvious choice.'' Advertisement 'Ideally, you want to get to a point where you're not relying on local authority money, so then you can go to the right locations to run the race you want to, but unfortunately it's not as simple as that.' The race will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and on TNT Sports.
South Wales Guardian
6 days ago
- Lifestyle
- South Wales Guardian
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. A post shared by British Cycling (@britishcycling) '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. 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. A post shared by Lizzie Deignan MBE (@l_deignan) '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.'
Powys County Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Powys County Times
Lizzie Deignan ‘incredibly emotional' ahead of Tour of Britain farewell
Emotions will be running high for Lizzie Deignan at the Tour of Britain Women this week. 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. View this post on Instagram A post shared by British Cycling (@britishcycling) '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. 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. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lizzie Deignan MBE (@l_deignan) '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.'
