Lizzie Deignan facts for kids
Deignan in 2023
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elizabeth Mary Deignan | ||
| Nickname | Lizzie | ||
| Born | 18 December 1988 Otley, West Yorkshire, England |
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| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb; 9.0 st) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Lidl–Trek | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | All-rounder | ||
| Major wins | |||
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Elizabeth "Lizzie" Mary Deignan (born 18 December 1988) is a famous English professional cyclist. She is a world champion in both track and road racing. Lizzie rides for the UCI Women's WorldTeam TFS women. In 2015, she became the World Road Race Champion.
Lizzie also won the Commonwealth Games road race in 2014. She won the UCI Women's Road World Cup twice, in 2014 and 2015. At the 2012 London Olympics, she earned a silver medal in the road race. She has also won the British National Road Race Championships four times.
In 2021, Lizzie made history by winning the first-ever Paris–Roubaix Femmes race. This win helped her achieve a "triple crown" in women's cycling. This means she won three of the biggest one-day races: Tour of Flanders, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and Paris–Roubaix. She has also won other major races like The Women's Tour, Strade Bianche Donne, and La Course by Le Tour de France.
Before focusing on road cycling, Lizzie won five medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. This included a gold medal in the team pursuit in 2009.
Contents
- Early Life and Cycling Start
- Lizzie's Cycling Journey
- Track Cycling Success (2005–2009)
- Moving to Road Racing (2009–2011)
- Olympic Silver and More Wins (2012)
- Battling Illness (2013)
- World Cup Champion (2014)
- World Champion Title (2015)
- Continuing Success (2016)
- National Champion Again (2017)
- Olympic Return and Historic Win (2021)
- Family and Future (2022-2025)
- Personal Life
- Awards and Honours
- Images for kids
Early Life and Cycling Start
Lizzie Deignan was born in Otley, a market town in West Yorkshire, England. She went to Prince Henry's Grammar School there. Lizzie started cycling in 2004. This happened after the British Cycling's Olympic Talent Team visited her school. She later joined British Cycling's Olympic Podium Programme.
Lizzie's Cycling Journey
Track Cycling Success (2005–2009)
Lizzie started her career as a track cyclist. In 2005, she won a silver medal at the Junior World Track Championships. She became the European Under-23 Scratch Race Champion in both 2007 and 2008. She also won seven gold medals in the 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics.
In 2009, Lizzie was part of the team that won a gold medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She also won a silver medal in the scratch race and a bronze in the points race at the same event.
Moving to Road Racing (2009–2011)
While succeeding on the track, Lizzie also began to shine in road racing. In 2008, she helped Nicole Cooke win gold at the World Championships. In 2009, she joined a professional road cycling team. She won the Under-23 British National Road Race Championships and took silver in the senior category.
Lizzie also won a stage in the Tour de l'Ardèche. She won the youth classification in the Giro d'Italia. She continued to win stages in the Tour de l'Ardèche in 2010. That year, she also won a silver medal in the road race at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Olympic Silver and More Wins (2012)
In 2012, Lizzie focused her season on the Olympic Games. She won spring races like the Omloop van het Hageland and Gent–Wevelgem. At the London Olympics, she won a silver medal in the road race. This made her the first British athlete to win a medal at those Games.
Battling Illness (2013)
Lizzie joined the Boels–Dolmans team in 2013. Her season was affected by a stomach illness. Doctors later found it was due to a hiatal hernia. Despite this, she still won her second British National Road Race Championships.
World Cup Champion (2014)
In 2014, Lizzie had one of her best years. She won the Omloop van het Hageland and the Ronde van Drenthe. She finished second in the Tour of Flanders. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she won her first major gold medal in the women's road race. Lizzie secured the UCI Women's Road World Cup title with a race to spare.
World Champion Title (2015)
Lizzie aimed for the UCI Road World Championships in 2015. She won the Ladies Tour of Qatar, including two stages. She also won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.
In June, she crashed after winning a stage of The Women's Tour. But she recovered quickly. Ten days later, she won the British National Road Race Championships for the third time. In August, she won the GP de Plouay to keep her World Cup title. On September 26, Lizzie won the World Championships road race in Virginia, USA. She became the fourth British woman to win this title.
Continuing Success (2016)
Lizzie's main goal for 2016 was the Olympic Games road race. She started the season strong, winning many one-day races. She won four races in the first UCI Women's World Tour. These included Strade Bianche, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and the Tour of Flanders. She also won The Women's Tour overall. At the Olympics, she finished fifth.
National Champion Again (2017)
Lizzie had a tough start to 2017 due to illness. However, her form improved for the Ardennes classics. She finished second in three major races. She then won her first race of the season at the Tour de Yorkshire. In June, she won her fourth British National Championships on the Isle of Man.
She finished second at La Course by Le Tour de France in July. In August, she won the GP de Plouay – Bretagne. This made her the third woman to win that race twice. Her season was cut short after she got appendicitis.
Olympic Return and Historic Win (2021)
Lizzie was part of Great Britain's cycling team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021). She finished 11th in the road race. In October, she achieved a huge victory. She won the Paris–Roubaix Femmes with a long solo breakaway. This win was called one of the greatest Roubaix rides ever. It also made her the first woman to win the "triple crown" of women's Monument classics.
Family and Future (2022-2025)
In February 2022, Lizzie announced she would take a break from racing. She was pregnant with her second child. She signed a new contract to return to racing in 2023. In June 2024, she won the Mountains classification in the Tour of Britain Women. She also competed in her fourth Olympic Games in Paris, finishing 12th. On November 15, Lizzie announced she plans to retire at the end of the 2025 season.
Personal Life
Lizzie married fellow professional cyclist Philip Deignan on September 17, 2016. They have two children, a daughter born in 2018 and a son born in 2022. She divides her time between Otley and Monaco. Lizzie has been a pescetarian (eats fish but no other meat) since she was ten years old.
Awards and Honours
In 2015, Lizzie was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. This was after her world championship victory. In December 2022, she was given the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award. This honor was for her great contributions to cycling.
Images for kids
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Lizzie Deignan at the 2007 Revolution series
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Lizzie Deignan at the 2014 Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
