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Lizzie Deignan wins 2017 Asda Women's Tour de Yorkshire

Astonishing breakaway gives Yorkshire rider a stunning finish

Yorkshire-born Lizzie Deignan yesterday won the 2017 Asda Women's Tour de Yorkshire in startling finish - attacking with 13 km left of the 122.5 kilometre race from Tadcaster to Harrogate and riding away for a solo victory.

Forming part of the lead group along with her Boels-Dolmans teammate Anna van der Breggen, she pushed hard to break away and take the win.

Dani King, also part of the lead group, was dropped minutes from the finish.

Second and third places were also hard fought for, but Deignan’s lead of around a minute proved impossible to break.

Sunweb's Coryn Rivera took second, and Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-High 5 third.

“The race really suited me and I knew the roads better than anyone else, so I took advantage of that," said the 28-year-old, who comes from Otley near Leeds.

“With 15km to go my Sports Director was telling me to save myself for the sprint but I knew we still had some small climbs to go. I knew it wasn’t going to come back together so I went on the attack. I didn’t dare believe I’d actually won the race until about 1km to go though because I felt like I was getting slower and slower.

“The finish was so special and so surreal, and it meant so much to me to receive such great support. It was incredible and I’m struggling to get my head around it. This is up there with the biggest wins of my career, definitely. There were a lot of big teams here and the Tour is growing into a really prestigious race.

“We don’t get crowds like this in women’s cycling very often and it was unbelievable to see so many people on the roadside. The fact that the whole race was televised live as well was really important. You’ll only see stronger and stronger women coming to this race in the future because of that, and the best riders specifically targeting this race.”

Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive Sir Gary Verity said: “Lizzie did Yorkshire proud today and this will have been a hugely popular victory right across the county.

“The course made for really exciting racing and Lizzie took full advantage of it. Like she said, Yorkshire people really look out for each other and the backing they gave Lizzie really spurred her on.

“I’d like to congratulate her and all the riders of the Asda Women’s Tour de Yorkshire today for given us such a brilliant race.”

The victory marked 10 months since Deignan’s last spot on the podium, which had been a victory at the Aviva Women’s Tour.

Deignan, neé Armitstead, has since married Team Sky's Philip Deignan.

Deignan will now have her sights set on the five-stage 2017 Women's Tour, which will begin on Wednesday June 7 with a stage from Daventry to Kettering before its first ever London finish on Sunday June 11.

The UK's biggest professional women's race was won last year by Deignan and will also feature stages in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Derbyshire.

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14 comments

Avatar
Morat | 7 years ago
1 like

Well I'm chuffed to bits she won, and in style too. That was a gritty race.

Avatar
dottigirl | 7 years ago
3 likes

This review is worth a read. Sums up what I think of her:

http://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2017/4/14/15306408/steadfast-by-li...

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 7 years ago
2 likes

I really want to support her but frankly her nonsense excuses, lack of respect for the drug rules, and simply playing dumb/not being proactive in any way (like not updating wherabouts, not telling hotel about potential 'visits') added onto which that CAS swallowed all that nonsense just makes me feel meh about anything she does.

I'm a great supporter of ladies on bikes, I try encourage them all the time (searching for bikes for friends and friends of friends, riding with almost strangers on their first couple of days to work or day rides to get them going etc) but I simply can't support LD...sorry.

Avatar
Jackson | 7 years ago
5 likes

I don't know who's doping and who isn't so as a fan my only choice is to trust in the rules, as they're all we've got. Lizzie Deignan broke the anti-doping rules. Plenty of other competitors manage to not break the rules, so I'd rather cheer for them. 

Avatar
WolfieSmith | 7 years ago
5 likes

Watched it live. She was amazing. A tough course too. I just hope women's racing keeps growing as it is a punchy as the men's and sometimes better value. 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to WolfieSmith | 7 years ago
2 likes
WolfieSmith wrote:

Watched it live. She was amazing. A tough course too. I just hope women's racing keeps growing as it is a punchy as the men's and sometimes better value. 

Cycling does seem to be one of the better supported sports. Amazing the amount of people that seemed to be out all day to catch both races. There certainly doesn't seem to be any loss of interest in the event from the couple of years.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
3 likes

At least she's never tested positive though, eh.

Avatar
Jackson replied to Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
7 likes
Rapha Nadal wrote:

At least she's never tested positive though, eh.

Can't test positive if the testers can't find you

Avatar
mike the bike replied to Jackson | 7 years ago
4 likes

Jackson wrote:
Rapha Nadal wrote:

At least she's never tested positive though, eh.

Can't test positive if the testers can't find you

 

There's scepticism, which is healthy, and there's cynicism, which is the hallmark of the world-weary, the sad and the aggrieved.  The constant drip of the latter is corrosive and unhealthy but it is, of course, so easy.

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to mike the bike | 7 years ago
1 like

mike the bike wrote:

Jackson wrote:
Rapha Nadal wrote:

At least she's never tested positive though, eh.

Can't test positive if the testers can't find you

 

There's scepticism, which is healthy, and there's cynicism, which is the hallmark of the world-weary, the sad and the aggrieved.  The constant drip of the latter is corrosive and unhealthy but it is, of course, so easy.

 

And are the comments about Lizzie and her missed tests sceptcism or cynicism? 

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to mike the bike | 7 years ago
3 likes

mike the bike wrote:

Jackson wrote:
Rapha Nadal wrote:

At least she's never tested positive though, eh.

Can't test positive if the testers can't find you

 

There's scepticism, which is healthy, and there's cynicism, which is the hallmark of the world-weary, the sad and the aggrieved.  The constant drip of the latter is corrosive and unhealthy but it is, of course, so easy.

25+ years of following the sport will do that to you.

Avatar
barbarus | 7 years ago
1 like

Fantastic performance, well done Lizzie!
Could this be tagged as "racing", as well as well as "women"?

Avatar
Sarah Barth | 7 years ago
5 likes

We didn't at the time, we do now smiley

Avatar
rtw | 7 years ago
3 likes

Do you not have any images from the race? by using an image which doesn't reflect her sponsorship and her team you're doing her and women's sport a disservice. There is too little sponsorship money in women's cycling. I'm sure Boels Dolmans are well happy that they are putting money in and a mainstream site ignores that in their imagery. 

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