DEIGNAN Elizabeth

Date of Birth: 18 Dec 1988

Age: 32

Gender: Female

Place of birth: OTLEY

Birth Country:

Great Britain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Cycling Road	Women's Road Race	11

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Fuji International Speedway	Women's Road Race	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

CYCLING ROAD

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Road Race	Individual Time Trial
2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	5	-
2012	London, GBR	2	10

UCI Road World Championships

Year	Location	Road Race	Team Time Trial
2020	Imola, ITA	6	-
2019	Harrogate, GBR	31	-
2017	Bergen, NOR	41	-
2016	Doha, QAT	4	1
2015	Richmond, VA, USA	1	2
2014	Ponferrada, ESP	7	5
2013	Florence, ITA	19	10
2011	Copenhagen, DEN	7	-
2010	Melbourne, VIC, AUS	9	-
2009	Mendrisio, SUI	27	-
2008	Varese, ITA	41	-
2007	Stuttgart, GER	DNF	-

Ten best performances in major races in career

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location
1	2020	Road Race	Liege - Bastogne - Liege	Liege, BEL
1	2020	Road Race	La Course by Le Tour	Nice, FRA
1	2020	Road Race	GP de Plouay	Plouay, FRA
1	2019	Women's Individual	The Women's Tour	Pembrey, GBR
1	2017	Road Race	GP de Plouay	Plouay, FRA
1	2016	Women's Individual	The Women's Tour	Kettering, GBR
1	2016	Road Race	Ronde van Vlaanderen	Oudenaarde, BEL
1	2016	Road Race	Trofeo Binda	Cittiglio, ITA
1	2016	Road Race	Strade Bianche	Siena, ITA
1	2015	Road Race	GP de Plouay	Plouay, FRA
1	2015	Road Race	Philadelphia Classic	Philadelphia, PA, USA
1	2015	Road Race	Trofeo Binda	Cittiglio, ITA
1	2014	Road Race	Ronde van Drenthe	Hoogeveen, NED

Legend
DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DSQ - Disqualified, OTL - Outside the Time Limit

CYCLING TRACK

World Championships

Year	Location	Points Race	Scratch	Omnium	3km TP
2010	Ballerup, DEN	9	-	2	2
2009	Pruszkow, POL	3	2	-	1
2008	Manchester, GBR	19	7	-	-

Legend
IP - Individual Pursuit, TP - Team Pursuit, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DSQ - Disqualified

Lizzie (Twitter profile, 09 Nov 2019)

Previous names:

Lizzie Armitstead

Occupation:

Husband Philip Deignan, daughter Orla [2018]

Languages spoken:

Trek - Segafredo [United States of America] since 2019

Sporting relatives:

Her husband Philip Deignan was a professional road cyclist and competed for Ireland at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (SportsDeskOnline, 11 Dec 2018; highlandradio.com, 03 May 2016)

Other sports:

She represented Great Britain in track cycling at the world championships in 2008, 2009, and 2010, winning a total of five medals. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 Mar 2020)

Turned professional in 2007

After feeling unwell for most of 2017 she underwent an appendix operation in September of that year. (Facebook page, 06 Dec 2018)

She withdrew from the 2015 Women's Tour of Britain as the result of a crash after the finish line on stage one of the race. She was taken to hospital in a neck brace. (olympictalk.nbcsports.com, 17 Jun 2015)

She was plagued by injuries throughout 2013, which culminated with her being diagnosed with a hernia at the end of the season. (cyclingnews.com, 05 Feb 2014)

She pulled out of the 2012 World Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, because of a side strain. (cyclingnews.com, 17 Mar 2012)

She had an operation on her back in 2008 after suffering a spinal stress fracture. (independent.co.uk, 21 Sep 2008)

She took up cycling at age 16. (Facebook page, 18 Mar 2020)

At age 16 she was noticed as part of a talent identification programme that visited her school. "I thought I'd give it a go to get out of maths class - and then got very competitive about it against the boys - and the rest, as they say, is history." (Facebook page, 18 Mar 2020)

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (cyclingnews.com, 20 Dec 2019)

British heptathlete Denise Lewis. (Facebook page, 18 Mar 2020)

Her first coach, Phil West. (youthcyclesport.co.uk, 18 Mar 2014)

Philosophy:

"Don't believe your own hype." (Facebook page, 18 Mar 2020)

In 2014 and 2020 she was named Female Rider of the Year by Cycling Weekly magazine. (cyclingweekly.com, 15 Dec 2020; Facebook page, 18 Mar 2020)

General Interest

Type of rider
Cobbles specialist (cyclingnews.com, 20 Dec 2019)

General
RETIREMENT PLANS
She intended to retire after the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but in March 2020 she confirmed that she would continue competing into 2021 following the postponement of the Games. "I have the motivation and optimism to carry me through to an Olympics in 2021. What a special Games that will be." (cyclingnews.com, 25 Mar 2020)

BABY BREAK
She took a year away from cycling in 2018 to have a baby. She returned to the sport the following year with the Trek - Segafredo team. "Cycling is less important than it's ever been but I'm more motivated than I've ever been. I go out and I love riding my bike now. I have a perspective now having taken a year away from professional sport just how lucky I am to do it as a job. It's crazy to think I wasn't enjoying it when I was the best in the world. So now I'm just determined, whatever happens, to enjoy it. I don't know whether it's about being a mum or having that year out from the sport, but I understand now that it's not going to last forever." (theguardian.com, 20 Sep 2019; bbc.co.uk, 09 Jun 2019; thetimes.co.uk, 02 Jun 2019)

AUTHOR
Her autobiography 'Steadfast' was published in April 2017. The book documents her life and cycling career. (Facebook page, 06 Dec 2018)

Social Media

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LizzieArmitstead
https://instagram.com/l_deignan
https://twitter.com/lizziedeignan

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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