Lizzie Deignan waited by her phone all day to hear whether she had been selected to represent Great Britain for a fourth time at the Paris Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dramatic, emotional phone call that broke the good news to the road racing star, but a ping from an email notification that came through at around 6pm.
“It’s a different feeling to the first time for London 2012, I was 23 and just full of excitement to go to my first Olympics. But this time around, I suppose I’m more proud of myself for the achievement of making a fourth Olympic Games,” says the West Yorkshire-born cyclist, 35. “Having two children at home, that’s an achievement in itself.”
Deignan – who also currently rides for the Lidl-Trek team, as part of the UCI Women’s World Tour (she took the top spot in the women’s individual rankings in 2020 and became the first ever winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021) – has a daughter, Orla, five, and son Shea, one-and-a-half, with her husband, former fellow professional road racer-turned-coach Philip Deignan.
“Women are pretty amazing, our bodies… I think it’s quite a humbling experience as an athlete to go through pregnancy, because you’re so often in control of the outcomes, and then when you’re pregnant, the baby is completely in charge. Your body changes in ways that are totally out of your control,” she continues. “I enjoyed that process because nature knows best. You’re just following nature’s path.
“I’ve also learnt that more dreams are broken than are won or made in the Olympic Games, there are only so many medals available. And it’s about making sure that your heart is not broken if you don’t come away with a medal, and realising – although you don’t want to play it down – it’s just one other bike race.
“I want to go into it with the feeling of [there’s] nothing to lose. I think that’s the best way to race it and to appreciate the experience.”
Getting to this point arguably takes years of blood, sweat and tears – and it’s fair to say Deignan has continued to shine throughout what she describes as a “very long career”, winning races including the Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche, GP de Plouay-Bretagne and the women’s road race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, to name just a few. She also took home a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
But as well as athletic talent and training, success in competitive sports is also about having measured leadership, remaining grounded, focused, ambitious, and full of gratitude.
“Yeah, you need to [be grateful] because there’s only so many people who get the opportunity to go to an Olympic Games. The fact you’re there means that you’ve reached the top of your sport. You have to be proud of that achievement in itself,” says Deignan, speaking via video link from Italy, where she was competing in the recent Giro d’Italia Women.
“It doesn’t mean that you’re less competitive, but it’s important to recognise that just being there is a big achievement.”
After she gave birth to her second child in September 2022, Deignan, who continues to champion women’s rights in sports, says she was “extremely fortunate” to have the dream scenario with her current team, with paid maternity leave [which only came into force for elite pro women riders in 2020] before she returned to racing the following May.
“In general, women have been underestimated in society for so long. It’s not just a sports thing. I think more teams and sponsors need to recognise that maternity leave is only a snapshot of time. It’s the same as a rider or athlete having a bad year due to an injury, and in the grand scheme of things, a very short break,” says Deignan.
And although she acknowledges that the growth in her sport for women’s rights, since she first started, has been huge, issues such as minimum wage have only really been addressed within the last five years.
“It’s important for getting more young girls into sport, as you can’t be what you can’t see,” she adds. “Sport, whether it’s competitive or not, is really important for people’s health, mental wellbeing and confidence. I think people feel empowered when they play sports, and it’s often a social thing as well. Improving your self-confidence is really at the heart of it.”
Deignan started cycling when she was 15. It’s part of their family life now too – both of her children have ridden on the front or the back of their parents’ bikes, from as soon as they were able to wear a helmet.
“We try and go by bike as much as we can. So if there is a journey we can do by bike, we do it,” says Deignan.
“My daughter was just keen to ride her bike, and I suppose as soon as they could, we’ve tried to encourage them gently into sport. It’s our way of life, so we try to spend as much time outside and expose them to as many different sports as possible. It’s a great way to begin to recognise your child’s character and teach them about making their own choices.”
Looking back on her own route to elite racing, she recalls: “I was booked out of school on this talent identification program because British Cycling was looking for more kids to take part in cycling, as the London Olympics had been announced. So I had a bit of a strange introduction to the sport, I was very much on a pathway with British Cycling in terms of funding, a bike, targets and goals to be able to try and make the Olympic team. And I suppose, from the beginning, I was very ambitious.
“But it’s ok to have days where you’re not motivated. It’s unrealistic, especially after you’ve had a career as long as mine, to think that every day, I’m going to wake up and want to do it,” Deignan adds. “That’s when I rely on my discipline.”
Lizzie Deignan is an ambassador for Cycleplan, the cycling insurance specialist.
