Deignan riding down memory lane at Glasgow World Championships

Cycling star Lizzie Deignan is gearing up for an almost literal ride down memory lane at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow.

The London 2012 Olympic silver medallist claimed the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold in the Scottish city, marking her first major title on the road.

And the 2015 world champion will now return to Glasgow as one of the most experienced members of the peloton this weekend, where she will be joined by fellow British teammates Pfeiffer Georgi, Lizzie Holden, and Anna Henderson.

Deignan, 34, said: “The Glasgow Commonwealth Games really did kick my career on.

“I think the Commonwealth Games are a really valuable experience because you're not in the Olympics with the best of the best of everybody.

“But it's certainly a tough competition to win in terms of expectation and the Games atmosphere.

“So to be able to go into that race in Glasgow as favourite and dictate how I wanted the race to go and to pull it off, gave me a massive amount of confidence going forward.

“It was a bit of a turning point really, because it was a Games and I was able to pull off the win.

“From then to now my life is unrecognisable, my life is just completely different.

“I had just met my husband actually, during that summer, so life was about to change. I didn't really know that, but it's very different now. I suppose I'm a grown-up now!”

Deignan has already had a taste of a home World Championships, competing at the Yorkshire Championships in 2019 where she finished 31st.

She’s now looking forward to returning to Glasgow's familiar roads and hopes her experience will reap rewards.

She added: “It will be a bit surreal really, to be back there.

“I've got a lot of fond memories in Glasgow. I won the national title there as well and I always seem to perform well there.

“And obviously, psychology plays a big role in sport and it's undeniable that when you have good memories you often associate somewhere with a positive feeling and that translates into hopefully positive feelings in Glasgow again.

“When I competed at the Yorkshire World Championships I thought that would be my last home World Championships, so to have Glasgow as well is nice and the crowd support will be amazing.”

The Lidl Trek rider married Irish cyclist, and now current coach, Philip in 2016 and is now a mum of two with her youngest child born just 11 months ago.

Deignan is still working her way back to the peak of her powers, finishing 35th in the recent Tour de France Femmes where she worked as a domestique.

In Glasgow, she is likely to support young star Georgi’s challenge to reigning champion Annemiek van Vleuten, who will retire at the end of this year.

Deignan’s recent performances can be taken as a warning sign for what is to come, with the 2015 global queen’s build-up quite different to her opponents.

“I'm not that far off,” she explained. “Physically, I'm quite pleased with where I am.

“If I look at my preparation towards the Tour de France and, I'm looking at my rivals and knowing the preparation they've had in terms of altitude camps and proper recovery and things like that.

“And for me, the last few months have been quite full-on. With a full-on race programme and then a couple of curveballs at home with my husband breaking his foot.

“Overall I think, actually, what I'm able to pull off in the races is not bad considering the things that I'm trying to balance at the moment.”

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