Lizzie Deignan believes the standard of professional cycling is getting “harder and harder” as she continues to make her return to the sport.
The 34-year-old is set to compete in the three-day Ford RideLondon Classique later this week, her first UK race since October 2021.
RideLondon begins on Friday and has two stages in Essex before Sunday’s finale in central London, which includes a finish down the Mall.
Speaking about her return to competitive action this year after giving birth to her second child last September, Deignan believes the performance levels in cycling are continuing to improve.
“I think on both the men’s and women’s side, professional cycling it’s getting harder and harder,” Deignan told a press conference.
“Everybody is pushing their limits and the performance levels are getting stronger in women’s cycling particularly, the changes, the investment that we’ve seen means the peloton, the level of performance, is deeper.
“It’s harder for breakaways to go on climbs, the break takes longer to go, it’s just simply harder than it’s ever been before – which is great!”
Seven months after giving birth to son Shea, the Olympic silver medallist and former World Road Race champion made an earlier-than-expected return to racing in April.
Injury and illness among her Trek-Segafredo team-mates saw her line up at La Fleche Wallonne last month before going on to compete in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Deignan has since taken part in La Vuelta Femenina, making the upcoming RideLondon race her fourth competition of the year, and she says she is settling back into dealing with the demands of racing.
“Personally, my form I learned again for the second time that you can be flying in training, you can be as fit as you want, but it’s no replication for racing,” said Deignan, who gave birth to daughter Orla in September 2018.
“You simply can’t suffer as much you need to or accelerate as many times as you need to, there’s no replacement for racing.
“I’m really happy that the finesse and race rhythm has come back really quickly so I’m excited to do RideLondon.
“Even in the last week I feel like I’ve taken another step forward in my performance so I’m really excited about it.”
Just one more year, hey? – Mark Cavendish persuaded to race on by his family
Mark Cavendish will postpone his retirement plans to race on in 2024 and target a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win.
The Manxman confirmed the long-rumoured news in a short video on Wednesday morning, saying, “Just one more year, hey?”
The 38-year-old had announced during the Giro d’Italia in May that he intended to end his glittering career this winter, and went into this summer’s Tour seeking the stage win that would move him clear of Eddy Merckx after he equalled the Belgian on 34 stage wins in 2021.
View this post on Instagram
But a day after coming just a few metres short of victory in Bordeaux, hampered by a mechanical issue in the finale, Cavendish crashed on stage eight and suffered a broken collarbone, ending his race.
Speculation that he might race on has swirled ever since, fuelled by his Astana-Qazaqstan team boss Alexander Vinokourov saying he was eager to retain the Manxman’s services for another season.
On Wednesday the team issued a social media post showing video clips of Cavendish at the Tour and saying “It’s not over yet”.
Cavendish then followed it with a short video in which he said he had been persuaded to race on by his family.
“I was ready, I was at peace but the more I’ve ridden this summer, I just love riding my bike,” Cavendish said. “I’ve spoken to the kids, ‘What should Dad do?’ And it was, ‘Carry on, it’s not a question’, so here we are. Just one more year, hey?”
Cavendish said the support of his team had also helped him make the decision.
“I’d guessed that was me done this year, I’d announced my retirement and I was looking forward to not having to get up and train in any weather conditions and not be away from home, spend time with the kids,” he said.
“Ultimately I’d miss racing, I love racing but I was happy, I was in a happy place and I knew I could go out on top. Obviously it wasn’t the finish I was hoping for, crashing at the Tour but it is what it is.
“We’d grown incredibly as a team, Astana-Qazaqstan this year and it felt like a family, so much so that the first thing Vino (Vinokourov) said to me when I crashed in France was, ‘Why don’t you do one more year?'”
Cavendish has not raced since his crash at the Tour as he recovered from surgery to repair his collarbone, but is expected to line up at the Tour of Turkey which starts on October 8.
Cavendish joined the Astana team in 2023 after a planned move to B&B Hotels collapsed, and took victory on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in May, days after announcing his retirement plans.
Although he had previously stayed quiet on his future plans, the Astana team had continued to build a lead-out train to support his sprinting ambitions, signing Max Kanter and Davide Ballerini. They have also been linked with Michael Morkov, who helped Cavendish win four stages of the Tour in 2021.
That was the year that Cavendish defied the odds to move level with Merckx’s record, having only joined what was then the Deceuninck-QuickStep team on a short-term minimum salary deal after being left without a contract going into the season, fearing his career was over.
But when an injury to Sam Bennett ruled the Irishman out of the Tour, Cavendish seized the chance to roll back the years with a remarkable sporting comeback, winning stages four, six, 10 and 13.
They were his first stage wins at the Tour since 2016, and completed a long comeback from a battle with the Epstein-Barr virus and a subsequent diagnosis of clinical depression.
Mark Cavendish to race on as Astana-Qazaqstan team declare: It’s not over yet
Mark Cavendish will postpone his retirement plans to race on in 2024 and target a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win.
The 38-year-old had announced during the Giro d’Italia in May that he intended to end his glittering career this winter, and went into this summer’s Tour seeking the stage win that would move him clear of Eddy Merckx after he equalled the Belgian on 34 stage wins in 2021.
But a day after coming just a few metres short of victory in Bordeaux, hampered by a mechanical issue in the finale, Cavendish crashed on stage eight and suffered a broken collarbone, ending his race.
Speculation that he might race on has swirled ever since, fuelled by his Astana-Qazaqstan team boss Alexander Vinokourov saying he was eager to retain the Manxman’s services for another season.
View this post on Instagram
On Wednesday the team issued a social media post showing video clips of Cavendish at the Tour and saying “It’s not over yet”.
The team will publish more details regarding Cavendish’s plans later on Wednesday.
Cavendish has not raced since his crash at the Tour as he recovered from surgery to repair his collarbone, but is expected to line up at the Tour of Turkey which starts on October 8.
Cavendish joined the Astana team in 2023 after a planned move to B&B Hotels collapsed, and took victory on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in May, days after announcing his retirement plans.
Although he has stayed silent on his future plans, the Astana team have continued to build a lead-out train to support his sprinting ambitions, signing Max Kanter and Davide Ballerini. They have also been linked with Michael Morkov, who helped Cavendish win four stages of the Tour in 2021.
That was the year that Cavendish defied the odds to move level with Merckx’s record, having only joined what was then the Deceuninck-QuickStep team on a short-term minimum salary deal after being left without a contract going into the season, fearing his career was over.
But when an injury to Sam Bennett ruled the Irishman out of the Tour, Cavendish seized the chance to roll back the years with a remarkable sporting comeback, winning stages four, six, 10 and 13.
They were his first stage wins at the Tour since 2016, and completed a long comeback from a battle with the Epstein-Barr virus and a subsequent diagnosis of clinical depression.
On This Day in 2014 – Sir Bradley Wiggins wins time-trial gold in Spain
Sir Bradley Wiggins won gold in the men’s time trial at the Road World Championships in Spain on this day in 2014.
Wiggins clocked 56 minutes 25.52 seconds for the 47.1-kilometre route in Ponferrada to win by an emphatic margin of 26.23secs.
Germany’s Tony Martin, seeking a fourth straight world title, had to settle for silver, while Tom Dumoulin of Holland took bronze.
It was Britain’s first gold in the event in 20 years, since Chris Boardman won the inaugural edition of the road time trial.
Wiggins said: “I paced it perfectly. I still had gas in the final. Even on the last descent, I knew I was ahead, but I was pushing all the way.
“I don’t know what to say. I knew coming into it that I had the legs.
“Once I saw the course I knew if I was ever going to beat Tony it would be here.”
Wiggins – Olympic time-trial champion as well as Tour de France champion in 2012 – added a first road world title to multiple golds he had achieved at World Championships on the track.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
