Elizabeth Mary Deignan (née Armitstead; born 18 December 1988) is an English professional world champion track and

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She was the 2015 World road race champion. Deignan is also the 2014 Commonwealth Games road race champion and a twice winner of the season-long

UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season-long List of women's road bicycle races, road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998 and 2015. This competition consisted of a series (which h ...

, winning the overall competition in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and the final edition in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Deignan won the silver medal in the road race. She has won the

British National Road Race Championships The British National Road Race Championships cover different categories of United Kingdom, British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually. History Between 1943 and 1958, two separate bodies – the British League of Racing Cyclist ...

four times, in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. In 2021, Deignan won the first ever

Paris–Roubaix Femmes Paris–Roubaix Femmes is a one day women's bicycle race on cobbled roads (or pavé) in northern France, held annually in early April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The Paris–Roubaix, equivalent men's race is a cycling monument, a ...

to add to victories in the women's versions of

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

and

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

, becoming the first woman to win a 'triple crown' of all women's Monument classics. Twice winner of

The Women's Tour The Tour of Britain Women is a women's cycle stage race held in England and Wales, as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race was organised between 2014 and 2023 by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's Tour of Britain, and was known as ...

, the most important stage race for women in the UK, she has also won

Strade Bianche Donne The Strade Bianche Donne ''(Strade Bianche Women)'', also named Strade Bianche Rosa by Italian media, is an annual professional list of women's road bicycle races, women's road bicycle racing event in Tuscany, Italy. Roughly a quarter of the rou ...

La Course by Le Tour de France La Course by Le Tour de France was an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional road bicycle race held in France. First held in 2014 as a one-day race on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs-Élysées in ...

and the

Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio is a one day women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the ''comune'' (municipality) of Cittiglio and nearby comunes located within the Province of Varese in the region of Lombardy i ...

. Prior to her road career, Deignan won a total of five medals at the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, including a gold medal in team pursuit in 2009 with

Joanna Rowsell Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988) is a retired English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competed on track and road. Her greatest successes were the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 London Oly ...

and

Wendy Houvenaghel Wendy Louise Houvenaghel (née McLean; born 27 November 1974) is a Northern Irish former racing cyclist from Upperlands, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, riding on both the road and track, but specialising in the latter. She has represent ...

Early life

Deignan was born in the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, where she attended Prince Henry's Grammar School, a state comprehensive school. She took up cycling in 2004 after British Cycling's Olympic Talent Team visited the school. She is a graduate of

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

's Olympic Podium Programme.

Career

2005–2009: Track years

Deignan won a silver medal in the

scratch race A scratch race is a track cycling race in which all riders start together and the objective is simply to be first over the finish line after a certain number of laps. UCI regulations specify that a scratch race should be held over 15 km for ...

at the Junior World Track Championships in 2005, she was under-23 European Scratch Race Champion in 2007 and 2008, and came second in the Points Race in 2007. In the

2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics The 2008–2009 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics was a multi race competition over a season of track cycling. The season ran from 31 October 2008 to 18 February 2009. The World Cup is organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The World C ...

, she took a total of seven gold medals after competing in three of the five meetings. Deignan was a member of the gold medal-winning team pursuit squad at the

2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the BGŻ Arena in Pruszków, Poland from 25 to 29 March 2009. Nineteen events were on the programme, with the women's omnium being ...

, her second appearance at a senior world championship event. She also competed in the scratch race, where despite being brought down in the closing stages of the race, she jumped back on to claim the silver medal. She completed the championships with a full set of medals, winning bronze in the points race whilst riding with her right wrist numb and strapped up – she was only able to move her forefinger and thumb.

2009–2011: Move to road

Alongside her breakthrough in the velodrome, Deignan was also making progress in road racing: in 2008 she was part of the team which delivered

Nicole Cooke Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE (born 13 April 1983) is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in any ...

to the road race gold at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, Italy, and the following year she joined the cycling team and rode a number of top level road races. She won the under 23 category of the

and the silver medal in the senior category after some controversy. That season she also took a stage of the

Tour de l'Ardèche Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, direct ...

and won the youth classification of the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. During the winter of 2009–10, Deignan returned to the track, taking two golds at the Manchester round of the

2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics The 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics is a multi race tournament over a season of track cycling. The season ran from 30 October 2009 to 24 January 2010. The World Cup was organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The World Cup k ...

and two silvers at the

2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycle ...

. In 2010, she rode for . That year she won three more stages of the Tour de l'Ardèche and a silver medal in the road race at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Deignan decided to stay with the franchise in its new guise as throughout 2011.

2012

Following the discontinuation of the women's team, Deignan rode for the team in 2012. Deignan built the whole of her campaign around the

, taking

spring classics The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

wins at the

Omloop van het Hageland The Omloop van het Hageland is an elite women's professional road bicycle race held since 2007 in the Hageland area of Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland ...

and

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

: at the Games themselves, she would go on to win the silver medal in the road race at the Olympics, behind

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior c ...

, in doing so becoming the first Briton to win a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

at the 2012 Games.

2013

Having had to move teams in the past two seasons due to teams disbanding, Deignan signed for the team for the 2013 season. Her 2013 season was affected by a recurring stomach illness which was eventually diagnosed as a symptom of a

hiatal hernia A hiatal hernia or hiatus hernia is a type of hernia in which abdominal organs (typically the stomach) slip through the diaphragm into the middle compartment of the chest. This may result in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or laryng ...

. Even with her well documented medical concerns, Deignan emerged victorious at the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

– claiming her second white, red and blue jersey.

2014

In April 2014, it was announced that Deignan had renewed her contract with until the end of 2016. Deignan enjoyed a career-best year, starting with a win at the

. A week later she also won the first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

race of the season, the

Ronde van Drenthe Ronde van Drenthe () was an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professiona ...

, after teammate

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cycling, tr ...

closed a significant gap for her in the final kilometres of the race. At the third World Cup race, the

, she finished second behind van Dijk. Deignan took part in the inaugural

in Paris on 27 July 2014, but crashed with to the finish. A week later she won the women's road race at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. Armitstead, overhauled

Emma Pooley Emma Jane Pooley (born 3 October 1982) is a British-Swiss athlete in multiple sports. A former professional cyclist who specialised in time trials and hilly races, she later transferred to endurance running, duathlon and triathlon, and was four- ...

with to go to win her first major gold medal. Deignan won the UCI Women's Road World Cup with a race to spare on 24 August 2014. An 8th-place finish in the

Open de Suède Vårgårda Open de Suède Vårgårda was an elite professional List of women's road bicycle races, women's road bicycle event held annually in the Vårgårda Municipality of Sweden. Created in 2006, the Open de Suède Vårgårda was part of the UCI Women's R ...

was enough to secure the overall title.

2015

For the 2015 season, Deignan stated again her intention to build towards the UCI Road World Championships. She claimed the first overall win of her career taking the Ladies Tour of Qatar stage race, as well as winning two stages. Deignan then went on to take victories at the one day

races

and Philadelphia Cycling Classic, along with the Holland Hills Classic. In June, Deignan was forced to pull out of

after colliding with a group of photographers seconds after winning the first stage of the tour in Suffolk. However, ten days later she had recovered sufficiently to win convincingly the

for the third time taking her to the top of the UCI world rankings. In August, she sprinted to victory in the final World Cup race of the season, the

GP de Plouay GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * Gold ...

, to retain her World Cup title ahead of her main challenger,

Anna van der Breggen Anna van der Breggen (born 18 April 1990) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2021 for Team Flexpoint, , and . She won the gold medal in the Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olymp ...

. To cap her best season to date, on 26 September, Deignan won the World Championships road race in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, USA, beating van der Breggen in a sprint from a small group of nine riders at the finish line, becoming the fourth British woman to win the world road race title after

Beryl Burton Beryl Burton Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, OBE (12 May 1937 – 5 May 1996) was an English Cycle sport, racing cyclist who dominated the Women's sports, women's sport, winning more than 90 domestic championships ...

, Mandy Jones and

2016

Deignan's stated aim for the 2016 season was the road race at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, and she started the season as she had finished off the previous one, securing a number of one day race wins, as well as a General classification victory, breaking any curse of the rainbow jersey. Deignan took four victories in the inaugural

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. , the tour includes 27 events in Europe, Asia and Oceania – with one-day races such as Strade Bianche Donne and Paris–Roubaix Femmes, stage races such as Wo ...

;

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche (; ) is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in ...

Trofeo Alfredo Binda Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio is a one day women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the ''comune'' (municipality) of Cittiglio and nearby comunes located within the Province of Varese in the region of Lombardy in ...

and the overall title at

. Deignan also took victories in the Holland Hills Classic and

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

. At the Games, she finished just outside the medals in fifth place.

Missed drugs tests

In 2016, Deignan avoided a ban from cycling that would have prevented her from competing in the

. The charges against her were that she missed three drugs tests within a 12-month period (20 August 2015, 5 October 2015 and 9 June 2016), an offence that could have led to a four-year ban. However, at the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

, Deignan argued that the first missed test was not a fault of her own but rather that of the testing authorities. She accepted the other two instances. The CAS agreed with her on the first count, and it was declared not to have been a missed test, clearing her to compete. The decision has drawn criticism from various quarters. In a 5 August 2016 interview, she said she believes that people will doubt her status as a clean sportsperson forever. World

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

champion

James Willstrop James Willstrop (born 15 August 1983) is an English professional squash player from Yorkshire who represented the England men's national squash team and is a former world number 1. Career Willstrop has a large build for a squash player, ...

wrote in defence of Deignan, arguing that the complexity of testing procedures can easily lead to missed tests and noting that she had 16 clean tests in 2016.

2017

Deignan endured a difficult start to her 2017 season: after finishing third at Strade Bianche, she fell ill, which hampered her training. However, her form picked up for the

Ardennes classics The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Liège–Bastogne–Liège, La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race. First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respec ...

, finishing second to team-mate van der Breggen in the

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

La Flèche Wallonne Féminine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

and

. She subsequently took her first win of the season on home ground at the

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire was a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It was promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and was rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tou ...

in April, crossing the line solo almost a minute ahead of her nearest rivals. She took another solo win at the British National Championships on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

in June, attacking from a small group with two laps of the finishing circuit remaining alongside

Katie Archibald Katie Archibald (born 12 March 1994) is an elite racing cyclist, specialising in endurance track cycling events in which she represents Great Britain and Scotland. A member of the Great Britain 2016 Olympic champion and 2020 Olympic silver me ...

and

Hannah Barnes Hannah Mary Barnes (born 4 May 1993) is a British racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She is the sister of fellow racing cyclist Alice Barnes, who rides for . Career Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Barnes grew up in Bladon, ...

: the trio caught and passed race leader

Elinor Barker Elinor Jane Barker (born 7 September 1994) is a Welsh road and track Cycle sport, racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team . Representing British Cycling, Great Britain in international competitions, Barker is an Olympic champio ...

with to go, with Deignan breaking away immediately afterwards to take her fourth senior national road race title. The following month, she finished second at

, finishing behind winner

Annemiek van Vleuten Annemiek van Vleuten (; born 8 October 1982) is a retired Dutch professional Bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Van Vleuten is twice a winner of both the UCI Road World Cha ...

on the

Col d'Izoard Col d'Izoard () is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the so ...

: she stated that she was "surprised" by her performance, having never enjoyed success on a mountaintop finish before. In August she took her first World Tour win of the season at the

GP de Plouay – Bretagne GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * Gold ...

, breaking away from rivals alongside

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (born 10 February 1992) is a French multi-discipline bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Women's World Tour team Visma–Lease a Bike Ferrand-Prévot has also competed in Mountain Biking and cyclo-cross during her career ...

on the final climb, before outsprinting Ferrand-Prévot to cross the finish line first. She became the third woman to win the race twice, alongside Vos and Pooley. However, the remainder of her season was disrupted shortly afterwards after being struck with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

whilst competing in the

Holland Ladies Tour The Holland Ladies Tourhttp://www.hollandladiestour.nl/ Official site is a women's elite professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in September since 1998 in the Netherlands. It's a tour with 6 or 7 stages. For sponsorship reasons t ...

2021

Deignan was chosen to be part of the UK's cycling squad at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she contested the road race with Anna Shackley as a teammate. The race finished with an unexpected winner in

Anna Kiesenhofer Anna Kiesenhofer (; born 14 February 1991) is an Austrian professional cyclist and mathematician, who last rode for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Kiesenhofer gained fame when she won the gold medal in the women's individual road race at the 2020 Summ ...

of Austria, with Deignan finding the conditions humid and difficult. She finished 11th in the race. In early October, she went on to win the

with a solo breakaway of more than , a victory described by commentators as one of the greatest Roubaix rides of all time. Deignan therefore became the first woman to win a 'triple crown' of all women's Monument classics, having won the 2016 Tour of Flanders for Women, and the 2020 Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes.

2022

In February, Deignan announced that she would sit out the 2022 season, as she was pregnant with her second child. She also announced she had signed a contract extension with to return to racing in 2023.

2024

In June, Deignan won the Mountains classification in the

Tour of Britain Women The Tour of Britain Women is a women's cycle stage race held in England and Wales, as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race was organised between 2014 and 2023 by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's Tour of Britain, and was known as ...

having held the position from stage one to the end of the four-day race. She was selected to represent Great Britain at the Paris Olympics, finishing 12th in what was her fourth Games appearance. On 15 November, Deignan announced she would retire at the end of the 2025 season.

Personal life

She married fellow professional road racing cyclist

Philip Deignan Philip Deignan (; born 7 September 1983) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , , , and squads. A former Olympian, Deignan won a stage in the 2009 Vuelta a España, and f ...

in Otley on 17 September 2016. The couple have two children: a daughter, born in September 2018, and a son, born in September 2022. She splits her time between Otley and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. Deignan has been a

pescetarian Pescetarianism ( ; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is a dietary practice in which seafood is the only source of meat in an otherwise vegetarian diet. The inclusion of other animal products, such as eggs and dairy, is optional. According to res ...

for ethical reasons since the age of ten.

Career achievements

Major results

Road

Source: ;2006 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

National Criterium Championships : 1st WCRA Criterium Championships ;2007 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

National Criterium Championships : 5th

Omloop van Borsele Omloop van Borsele ("Circuit of Borsele") is an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional road bicycle race held annually since 2002 in Borsele, Netherlands. Since 2012 in women's road cycling, 2012, the event also contains a ...

: 6th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships : 9th Omloop door Middag-Humsterland ;2008 (1 pro win) : 1st Boezinge–Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen ;

(1) : 1st

Road race, National Under-23 Championships : 1st Jersey white

Young rider classification,

: 2nd Road race, National Championships : 3rd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 6 : 8th

: 8th

Chrono Champenois The Chrono Champenois is a European individual time trial bicycle race held around Bétheny in France, in the Champagne region. The race has been organised as a 1.2 event since 1989 for women's and since 1998 there is also a men's race which i ...

: 9th

Tour de Berne Tour de Berne is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held in Bern, Switzerland with races for men and women. Men's event The men's event began in 1920 and has previously been a UCI 1.2 rated event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Con ...

;2010 (5) : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Under-23 Championships : 1st Stage 1

Tour de l'Aude Tour de l'Aude is the name of two cycling races: *Tour de l'Aude (men's race) *Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held a ...

: 2nd

Road race,

: 2nd Road race, National Championships : 4th Overall

La Route de France The Route de France Féminine was a women's cycle race. First held in 2006, it was rated 2.2 by the UCI for the 2006 and 2007 edition, and 2.1 since. The race was cancelled in 2011, but returned the next year. With the ending of the Grande Bo ...

::1st Stage 6 : 4th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 3, 4 & 5 : 5th

Emakumeen Saria Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria is a women's bicycle race held in Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernm ...

: 7th Overall

Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden The Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden also known as Rabo Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden due to former sponsorships reasons is a 3 days elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's road bicycle stage race held in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands. The race ...

: 7th Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs : 9th Road race,

UCI World Championships The UCI World Championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winn ...

;2011 (3) : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Championships :

Thüringen Rundfahrt Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany's 16 states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 6 : 1st Stage 1

Tour of Chongming Island The Tour of Chongming Island International Cycling Race is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race held in Shanghai, China, named after Chongming Island. The Tour previously consisted of two races: a stage race and a one-day race. ...

: 2nd

World Cup : 3rd

Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...

: 4th

: 6th

GP Ciudad de Valladolid GP Ciudad de Valladolid is a women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Valladolid, Spain. It was first run in 2010 and serves as a race of the UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season ...

: 7th Road race,

: 7th

GP Stad Roeselare The GP Stad Roeselare was an elite women's road bicycle race held annually in Roeselare, Belgium. The race was established in 2007 and was rated by the UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Ir ...

: 10th

;

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

(1) : 1st

: 1st

::2nd

Road race ::10th

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

: 2nd Road race, National Championships : 3rd Novilon Euregio Cup : 4th Overall

: 4th

Gooik–Geraardsbergen–Gooik Gooik–Geraardsbergen–Gooik was an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional one-day road bicycle race held between Gooik and Geraardsbergen in Belgium and was rated by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI as a 1.1 race. ...

: 4th

Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria is a women's bicycle race held in Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernm ...

: 6th Overall

: 8th

: 10th

;

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

(1) : National Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race ::2nd

: 2nd Holland Hills Classic : 2nd

Ridderronde Maastricht Ridderronde Maastricht is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Maastricht, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1985 and since 2008 the event also includes a women's race. Since 2019 Ridderronde was ...

: 3rd Overall

::1st

Sprints classification ::1st Jersey white dots on red

Combination classification : 6th Overall

: 7th Overall Energiewacht Tour :: Jersey blue

Combativity award, Stage 2 : 7th

: 9th

;

(4) : 1st

Overall

UCI World Cup The UCI World Cups are the World Cups for cycling disciplines organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale: * UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 ...

: 1st

Road race,

: 1st

: 1st Otley Grand Prix : 2nd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey black

Mountains classification ::1st Stage 1 : 2nd

: 2nd

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

: 2nd

: 3rd Road race, National Championships : 3rd

Drentse 8 Ronde van Drenthe () was an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Drenthe, Netherlands and sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. The women's event was part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and t ...

: 3rd

RideLondon RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in London. Intended as an annual legacy of the London 2012, London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was first held in 2013. The festival consists of a series of cycling events on closed roa ...

Grand Prix : 3rd

: 7th Road race,

: 8th

;2015 (10) :

::1st

Road race ::2nd Silver medal uci

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

: 1st

Overall

: 1st

Road race, National Championships : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 4 : 1st

: 1st Holland Hills Classic : 1st Philadelphia Cycling Classic : 1st

: 1st Stage 1

: 2nd

: 3rd

: 3rd Crescent Vårgårda TTT : 4th

: 7th

: 8th

;2016 (7) :

::1st

::4th Road race : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

British rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : 1st

: 1st

: 1st Holland Hills Classic : 1st Crescent Vårgårda TTT : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

: 5th Road race,

;2017 (3) : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Championships : 1st

: 1st

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Giro Rosa The is an annual women's Road bicycle racing, cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's WorldTour, UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men' ...

: 2nd

: 3rd

;2019 (2) : 1st Jersey green

Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey light blue

British rider classification ::1st Stage 5 : 7th Overall

: 7th

;2020 (3) : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

: 1st

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 4th

: 6th Road race,

: 8th

: 9th Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa ;2021 (2) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey red

Mountains classification : 1st

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 1 ( TTT) : 7th

: 9th Overall

Thüringen Ladies Tour The Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, formerly known as the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen (Women's Tour of Thuringia) was a stage race for women road bicycle racing, road cycle racers held every July in the German states of Germany, state of Thurin ...

: 9th

;2023 : 3rd Overall

RideLondon Classique RideLondon Classique is a women's cycle stage race held in Essex and London as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. Part of the RideLondon cycling festival, the race was originally held as a one-day race in central London, and became a stage race ...

: 6th Road race,

;2024 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

La Vuelta Femenina La Vuelta Femenina (; "The Female Tour") is an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional bicycle race held in Spain. The race is organised by Unipublic and Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Vuel ...

: 3rd Road race, National Championships : 7th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

::1st

Mountains classification

=Classics results timeline

Track

;2005 : National Junior Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Points race ::2nd 500m time trial ::3rd Scratch : 2nd Silver medal uci

Scratch, UCI World Junior Championships ;2006 : 2nd Scratch,

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

: National Junior Championships ::2nd Points race ::2nd Individual pursuit ::3rd Scratch ::3rd 500m time trial ;2007 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Scratch ::2nd Silver medal europe

Points race ;2008 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Scratch ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Team pursuit ::2nd Silver medal europe

Points race : UCI World Cup Classics ::1st Points race,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

::1st Scratch,

::1st Team pursuit,

::1st Scratch,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

::1st Team pursuit,

;2009 :

::1st

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

::2nd

Scratch ::3rd Bronze medal uci

Points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men from 1984 to 2008 and for women from 1996 to 2008. Since 2012, the points race has been one of the omniu ...

: 2008–09 UCI World Cup Classics,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

::1st Scratch ::1st Team pursuit : 2009–10 UCI World Cup Classics,

::1st Team pursuit ::1st Points race ;2010 :

::2nd

Omnium An omnium (from Latin ''omnium'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event in track cycling. Historically the omnium has had a variety of formats. In recent years, road racing has also adopted the term to describe multi-day races that f ...

;2011 :

::1st

Points race ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Scratch ;2015 : Revolution Series ::1st Points race, Manchester ::1st Points race, Glasgow ::3rd Scratch, Glasgow

Awards and honours

In 2015, Deignan was nominated for the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, following her world championship victory; she finished tenth, with approximately 22,000 of the 1.009 million votes cast. In December 2022, Deignan was appointed as a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to cycling.

References

External links

Lizzie Deignan
at

archive
* * * *
Elizabeth Deignan
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...