“], “filter”: { “nextException”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainException”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, ao-button”}}”>
Lizzie Deignan expects it could be up to a year before she is at her best again.
The Trek-Segafredo rider is planning to return to racing later this spring after taking a year off for her second child, born in September.
With no experience making a post-pregnancy comeback, Dignan knows it will take time for her to return to her peak racing form and she can’t expect to be back in race-blitzing mode eight months after giving birth.
“I’m just going off my experience,” Dignan explained. velo news In a telephone interview last week. “I know physically and mentally, I would say it took a year to really, really feel like myself again. I remember in 2020, unfortunately, it was the year of the pandemic, but I Coming back, the season was when I really felt like hitting the ground running.
“I’m hoping that maybe that’s the case, that this season will take a while to get back to racing, and then, hopefully next season, I’ll put more expectations on myself.”
Read also:
Nothing is set for Dignan’s return, but he has his eyes set on May and the newly expanded seven-day La Vuelta Femenina. She could wait longer and try to gain a bigger base, but she doesn’t understand the point of waiting too long.
It’s a shock to the system whenever she has to go, so she can go whenever she feels she can make a positive impact on the team, not just when she’s in race-winning form.
“You can always hope to be better prepared, but at some point, you have to jump in and move on,” Degnan said. “I feel like I don’t, I don’t have as much pressure to perform straight away as last time. I really felt like I had a point to prove that I could come back whereas this time I didn’t feel like Feeling like I can start racing before I’m really ready to win. I feel like I can contribute to the team so I think that may be a real goal.
“Last time I did the Amstel Gold and that was terrible as a first race. I think it’s going to be a shock to the system no matter which race I start.
A year away from the sport is a long time in any discipline, but current developments in women’s cycling mean it could be a huge leap forward. The past year has seen yet more riders vie for WorldTeam pay and the inauguration of Tour de France femme Avec Swift was a major milestone for the peloton.
Deignan has been a huge campaigner for better treatment for women’s racing throughout her career, and this development is a result of that push by her and others. Although it means it will be difficult for him to return to the group, he is happy to see this development.
“I hope it’s not huge, but I know it’s going to get harder and harder to get results because it’s getting more professional, which is fantastic,” Dignan said. “There is a whole new generation of women now who have the opportunity to train and live like professional athletes, but they also have opportunities and platforms like the Tour de France to perform on. Both sides of the fence are now being built. Which is really important.
“I can’t advocate and push for the improvement of women’s cycling without acknowledging the fact that it will drive me forward as well. It’s all good.”
back road
While Dignan now has the advantage of experience, which he didn’t have when he made this trip back in 2019, not everything will be the same. All babies are different, and each pregnancy comes with new challenges, so there are still unknowns to manage.
“Being a parent for the second time, you know what you’re doing for a little bit more. The parenting side has been easier than we expected because we’ve got one of those nice, easy babies, The ones you don’t believe aren’t one until you’re one, Dignan said.
“Shea is a very calm baby and she sleeps well and all those things, which make a huge difference. Physically, where I compare postpartum with Orla, I would say that physically through this pregnancy It has taken longer to heal.Although we have had an easy baby, it was a difficult pregnancy.
Dignan continued to ride throughout her pregnancy, but she stayed away from putting in the massive efforts that typically fueled her training schedule during the race season. As she neared the birth of her child, her rides became less frequent and biking became more challenging.
Bike riders are used to making huge strides in fitness and form when they come back from a four-week break in the off-season. For Deignan, the time away from the bike has been a big mountain to climb, along with the physical side effects of pregnancy and birth.
It’s been a fun prospect for Dignan, who is looking for small margins of profit to see such big changes.
“It’s exciting, it’s good to improve all the time. It can be quite mentally exhausting when you’re trying to make little improvements every season,” she said. “It takes a lot of work and the increments of improvement are small because you are looking for small percentages at that level, whilst it is good to see a massive jump in fitness and form, it is really motivating.
“I miss racing. I didn’t know I would, I hope I will, but to see the races and to see the Tour Down Under and the girls racing and doing well already, I Definitely still motivated to race.
Dignan doesn’t have any big goals for 2023 other than finding form and helping his teammates find results. However, there is one event this year she would definitely like to attend, the World Championships in Glasgow.
It will be the second time she will have the opportunity to aim for a world cup following the 2019 event in Yorkshire – her home county – which came just after she had her first child. Deignan is looking at the possibility of racing at home again, although she never thought she would be in this position.
“It’s funny because when I had the Orla World Championships the year after that at home and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m never going to have another home World Championships.’ I thought I’d be retired long before Glasgow, but here we are,” she said.
“I’m definitely excited about it, but I don’t know how realistic it is, what expectations I should have. Firstly, I want to try and make the team. British women are getting stronger and stronger , So I would like to be a part of that team. Whether it’s going to perform myself or just helping the team, I don’t know, at this level.
