Lizzie Deignan will make an early comeback from her second pregnancy, confirming that she will line up at La Flèche Wallonne Femmes on Wednesday.
The former world champion gave birth to her second child in September and had pencilled in La Vuelta Feminina at the start of May to make her return to racing.
However, she was added to provisional entry lists last week for La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Trek-Segafredo indicated to Cyclingnews that she was a reserve rider but Deignan has now confirmed that she will pin a number on and line up in Huy, Belgium, on Wednesday morning.
“Where did that 6 months go?!” Deignan wrote in a social media post on Monday, accompanied by a photo of herself and her two children.
“I actually can’t put it all in to words, Flèche Wallonne here I come.”
It is not yet confirmed whether or not Deignan will also line up at Liège on Sunday.
Deignan last raced in 2021, finishing that season at the Women’s Tour after winning the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes. In February last year she announced that she was expecting her second child and would not race all season, with Trek-Segafredo showing their support by extending her contract through 2024.
This is Deignan’s second racing comeback from pregnancy, having given birth to her first child in 2018 and signing for Trek-Segafredo while pregnant. The timings are similar, with that first birth also in September and followed by an April return at the 2019 Ardennes Classics, where she raced Amstel Gold and La Flèche Wallonne before placing 7th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. She went on to win the Women’s Tour that year.
Her 2020 campaign was even stronger, with wins at Liège, La Course, and GP Plouay, while 2021 saw victory at the Tour de Suisse and 4th at the Giro d’Italia Donne before that famous Roubaix title.
Deignan will line up alongside Elisa Longo Borghini at La Flèche Wallonne, both having twice finished on the podium of the race that finishes atop the steep Mur de Huy. Shirin van Anrooij is another leading light for the team after her podium finish at Amstel, while Amanda Spratt and Gaia Realini add climbing strength.
Deignan is aiming to build up towards her first appearance at the Tour de France Femmes, having missed the first edition of the revamped women’s Tour last year, while the World Championships in Glasgow in August are also understood to be a target.
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