Lizzie Deignan, the London 2012 silver medallist and former world road race champion, has confirmed that 2025 will be her final year in the women’s peloton.
“Next year will be my final season,” said Deignan, who has moved back to her native Yorkshire after a long period based in Monaco. “It’s been a question that’s been asked of me, over and over, the last couple of years – ‘When are you going to retire?’ – and I have been thinking about it.”
But the 35-year-old mother of two admitted that a “bad travel day” at the start of the 2024 season had pushed her “over the edge”. “There was one specific moment this year when I thought ‘OK, I’ve had enough now,’” she admitted.
“I was flying home from a training camp in January and I was diverted to Glasgow airport, had this crazy long night, got home at five in the morning and was up at seven with the kids.”
Deignan, who will end her career with her current sponsor, Lidl-Trek, described that realisation as “a bit of a moment”. “I asked myself: ‘Can I do this any more? Do I want to do this any more?’ And I realised, I didn’t. It wasn’t, ‘I never want to look at a bike again’ – more that I thought I was coming to the end of it being sustainable and something that I want to do.
“It would be really easy for me to blame the kids, but actually it wouldn’t be fair. I’ve worked really hard to show that it is possible to be a professional athlete and to be a mum and I want to stand by that. It is absolutely possible.
“The reason I’m retiring is because I no longer want to do it. It is not because it’s not possible and it’s too much: it will be my 18th season next year and it’s a long time to dedicate yourself to cycling. All good things come to an end and I feel my time has come. I feel fortunate that I’m stepping away still in love with the sport. I love cycling and all the things it has given me.”
The versatile Deignan plans to stay involved in cycling once her racing career ends. “I think it would be crazy not to,” she said.
“Women’s cycling is on this upward trajectory and I’ve been a part of that. I feel like I have some expertise in the area and I’d be crazy not to share that with the next generation.” Deignan’s career has morphed in recent seasons as she has moved away from team leadership to play a supporting role. “Cycling is a team sport and I think it’s underestimated just how valuable it is to have people in different roles excelling in those roles.
“Racing without individual pressure will be quite refreshing. I have enough internal pressure, without having to win. It’s not about external validation and big results any more: it’s more about what I can give to the sport.”
Deignan said that “without a doubt” London 2012, where she secured the silver medal in the women’s road race, was the outstanding highlight of her long career. “It was an incredible experience as a person and as an athlete.
“To live through a home Games, to be the first Olympic medallist [of those Games], to really share that with everyone, not just cyclists, but the person in the corner shop – it felt so big in our country and I really felt at the forefront of that.”
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She also won the women’s world road race title in 2015, a gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the Women’s Tour of Britain twice, plus a long list of coveted one-day races, including the inaugural women’s Paris-Roubaix in 2021.
Deignan, whose career has run parallel with an explosion in interest and investment in women’s cycling, has long been a vociferous advocate for the women’s peloton.
“I’ve never shied away from confrontation, or calling out inequality,” she said.
“That’s something I will continue to strive to push towards. We’re not quite there, but we’re certainly on our way. Being part of that means more than any result.”
