GB great Deignan retires after announcing pregnancy

Former world champion Lizzie Deignan has announced her immediate retirement after confirming she is pregnant with her third child.

The 36-year-old is one of Britain's most successful road cyclists, with 43 professional wins and an Olympic silver medal from the London 2012 Games.

The 2015 world champion, whose other major wins include the first women's edition of the fabled Paris-Roubaix one-day race in 2021, said last year she would retire from cycling at the end of this season.

But she has now brought forward her decision because of her pregnancy, posting a photo of a babygrow on Instagram, external captioned: 'A new chapter in the Deignan story', while her Lidl-Trek team announced her retirement.

"I have this life outside of cycling that gives me so much fulfilment and so much love," said Deignan.

"Often people say, 'Retire on the top.' But I have no ego or necessity to retire at the top. I'm really happy to go full circle and to have ended my career as somebody that helps other people win bike races again."

Last month's Copenhagen Sprint was the final race of her career, coming just a couple of weeks after she competed in the Tour of Britain Women for the final time.

Other victories on her palmares include Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders and the Women's Tour.

She took a career break in 2018 for the birth of daughter Orla, and also in 2022 for the birth of her son Shea.

She considered retirement in 2022 before deciding she wanted to race on in a support role for younger team-mates.

Her final victory came at this year's Vuelta Espana Femenina, when Lidl-Trek won the team time trial on the opening stage in Barcelona.