{"id":18447,"date":"2025-07-24T11:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T11:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/18447\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T11:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T11:59:08","slug":"lizzie-deignan-retires-from-cycling-with-surprise-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/18447\/","title":{"rendered":"Lizzie Deignan retires from cycling with surprise announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lizzie Deignan<\/a>, former world champion and pioneer of women’s professional cycling, has announced her immediate retirement from the sport.<\/p>\n

The decision was made as the 36-year-old is pregnant with her third child, due in February 2026. Deignan was due to finish her career at the end of this season<\/a>, but has now brought her retirement forward.<\/p>\n

Over 19 seasons as a pro, the Brit recorded 43 wins, including the UCI Road World Championships, Paris-Roubaix Femmes<\/a>, the Tour of Flanders<\/a>, Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge<\/a> and Strade Bianche<\/a>. Her legacy also counts her as one of the first female professional cyclists to have a child and return to the highest level.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOften people say, \u2018Retire at the top.\u2019 But I have no ego or necessity to retire at the top,\u201d said Deignan.<\/p>\n

The Lidl-Trek<\/a> rider’s last victory came at the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes<\/a> in 2021, where she attacked solo with more than 80km remaining<\/a>. In recent years, she has taken on a domestique role within her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy to go full circle and to have ended my career as somebody that helps other people win bike races again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After joining her first UCI team in 2007, Deignan went on to become the number one ranked cyclist in the world.<\/p>\n

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She took time out of racing in 2018 to give birth to her daughter, Orla, and did the same in 2020, when she and her husband Philip welcomed their second child, a son named Shea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have this life outside of cycling that gives me so much fulfilment and so much love,\u201d Deignan said.<\/p>\n

In a press release announcing her retirement, the Brit\u2019s Lidl-Trek team described her as a \u201cconsummate leader and mentor\u201d, who has \u201clead the charge for more exposure on women\u2019s cycling and better compensation for her colleagues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deignan\u2019s last race was the Copenhagen Sprint in June, where she placed 89th. Before that, she rode the Tour of Britain Women<\/a>, a race she won twice during her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like it\u2019s come full circle. Obviously I started off racing here in the UK, so it\u2019s nice to get one final race here,\u201d she told Cycling Weekly at the Tour of Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deignan went on to say that professional women\u2019s cycling is \u201cnight and day different\u201d today to when she first started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve carried the torch for quite a long time now, and it\u2019s really cool that there is now a group of women ready to take over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Deignan’s palmar\u00e8s also counts a silver medal in the road race at the 2012 Olympics, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and four British national road race titles.<\/p>\n

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Lizzie Deignan<\/a>
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