Lizzie Deignan to race RideLondon Classique

Lizzie Deignan to race RideLondon Classique held between Friday 26 May and Sunday 28 May in Essex and London

Lizzie Deignan to race RideLondon Classique

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Lizzie Deignan to race RideLondon Classique held between Friday 26 May and Sunday 28 May in Essex and London. Deignan, a former World Road Race Champion and four-time British Road Race Champion, is returning to competitive action after the birth of her second child last year and will make her first appearance at the RideLondon Classique.

The Trek-Segafredo rider is the highlight name among the provisional start list for this year’s Ford RideLondon Classique.

Deignan is part of a strong British contingent in the field, which also includes Pfeiffer Georgi, former National Road Race Champion and winner of this year’s Classic Brugge-De Panne, Anna Henderson, former National Road Race Time-Trial Champion and winner of the 2022 RideLondon Classique’s Queen of the Mountain’s jersey, and Alice Towers, the current National Road Race Champion.

Other stellar names to be competing include Elisa Balsamo, former World Champion and second-place finisher at RideLondon 2022, Chiara Consonni, Giro d’Italia Donne stage winner and former champion of Dwars door Vlaanderen, and Charlotte Kool, a stage winner at the Vuelta Feminina last week.

Alice Towers will be bringing the champion’s jersey home for the race

Deignan, the London 2012 Olympic silver medallist and two-times Commonwealth Games medallist, last raced on home soil at the Women’s Tour in October 2021, before becoming a mother for the second time. She made her return to racing last month when she rode La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before completing the Vuelta Feminina.

Deignan said: “It is a pleasure to be racing the RideLondon Classique this year after so long off the bike. I have some miles in my legs after an earlier than anticipated comeback and am feeling strong for this race. The beautiful countryside of Essex and the iconic London stage finishing on The Mall promise to be packed with cycling enthusiasts and I hope to be able to open the door to this fantastic sport to the next generation of cyclists.”

Six of the 10 leading teams in the UCI Women’s World Tour Rankings have been confirmed for this year’s race, which is the only UCI World Tour race to be held in the UK in 2023. Trek-Segafredo, FDJ-Suez, Team DSM, Canyon//SRAM Racing, UAE Team ADQ and Team Jumbo-Visma are all confirmed to race in this year’s RideLondon Classique.

In total, 19 teams of six riders will take part in this year’s race including nine UCI Women’s WorldTour teams and 10 UCI Women’s Continental teams.

Among the UCI Women’s Continental teams are three British teams: AWOL O’Shea, DAS-Handsling Bikes and Lifeplus Wahoo. The RideLondon Classique starts with two stages in Essex on Friday 26 May and Saturday 27 May.

– Stage One (150km) is from Saffron Walden to Colchester
– Stage Two (140km) starts and finishes in Maldon.
– Stage Three (91km) Central London, starting and finishing on The Mall.