Lizzie Deignan says that a broken arm in April shouldn’t derail her goals, ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer.
The British rider sustained the first fracture of her career in a crash at the Tour of Flanders, which then saw her ruled out of Paris-Roubaix and all of the Ardennes Classics, races that she was hoping to peak for.
Nevertheless, Deignan is optimistic that her injury shouldn’t disrupt her big target of selection for the Paris games this summer.
Deignan told Cycling Weekly and a small group of other reporters that her injury had inevitably come at a bad time, but she was confident she would still be able to force her way into contention.
“I think the main concern for me is that this has happened during Olympic selection time,” she said. “So I’ve missed a good chunk of races that I was peaking for in terms of getting myself selected for the Olympic games.
“But there’s plenty of time to be ready and prepared to race there, although I think selection is harder than it’s ever been before, so that’s obviously bad timing for me.
“I think I just have to make the most of the recovery that I can,” she added. “So I can make sure with the extra time at home that I’m on top of other things… I’m just trying to be as focused and as professional as I can be.”
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Deignan was speaking on the day British Cycling released the route for the Tour of Britain Women. The 35-year-old is set to lead the GB team at the race and said that once she is fully recovered, she will be targeting an overall win.
“It’s a race that will offer lots of opportunities,” she said. “I’m excited particularly about the harder days around Manchester, the hillier stuff in the Peaks, I think that will suit me. I’m excited to be able to race it with the GB team as well. It’s not often that I get to race as a British person on a British team, often I’m with Lidl-Trek.
“Every opportunity you get to race together as a British squad is important I think, particularly in an Olympic year and in preparation for the World Championships. It’s nice to be able to be in that setup,” said the 2015 World Champion.
“Racing in Britain has always suited me”
Lizzie Deignan
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I think it’s important to go into an Olympic games having won a big race,” Deignan affirmed. “The Women’s Tour has always suited me, racing in Britain has always suited me, and I think the terrain wherever you are in the country, it’s kind of relentless and often I feel like it means I have opportunities to come away with a win,” said the Yorkshirewoman.
“Looking towards the Women’s Tour, I’d want to perform there and come away with a win to build some confidence going into the Olympic games,” she added.
In terms of healing from her current injury, she added “I’m waiting to see an orthopaedic surgeon so I shall know soon about how I am but it’s better than expected I think. l will definitely be fit and ready by the time the Tour of Britain Women comes around anyway.”
Deignan said that she was drawing on her experience of getting back fit after having two children to help get her back to where she needs to be.
“Luckily my husband has broken several bones so he’s been able to guide me through it,” she said. “It’s about being patient. I am struggling a little bit to know what is a good level of pain, because I’ve been told that sometimes you have to push through certain levels of pain particularly with the injury that I have.
“In order to get full mobility back, I need to push myself to straighten my arm more than I might want to and things like that. So I’m figuring out my limits, but it’s not something that I can recall with experience. Other riders have just told me to be mindful and to not rush it, so I’m just trying to follow that too.”