Lizzie Deignan admitted she felt “tired” in the opening stage of the Women’s Tour de Yorkshire and remained cautious over her hopes of repeated her 2017 triumph on Friday’s final stage.
The hugely promising Dutch 20-year-old Lorena Wiebes (Parkhotel-Valkenburg) won the opening stage in a sprint in the picturesque North Yorkshire town of Bedale, powering clear of the bunch with a burst that no one could match.
Deignan was racing for only the fourth time since giving birth to baby Orla – who was at the finish to greet her – but produced promising results last month on the continent to suggest she could be competitive in her home county of Yorkshire.
She finished safely in the pack, but found the going tough on a long and wet 132km route from Barnsley. “Today was kind of tricky and I just felt tired actually,” Deignan said, walking back to her team bus with Orla in her arms. “We had a good race as a team.”
Saturday’s second and final stage of the women’s race will again mirror the men’s route. However the 132km will be far more testing, heading up the east coast from bridlington to Whitby before turning back down to the finish at Scarborough.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow but we’ll see,” Deignan added. ”When I wake up in the morning I’d love to be in the shape to be aggressive but it might just be survival.”
