Lizzie Deignan anticipates brutally challenging OVO Energy Women`s Tour
(Cyclingnews.com)

Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) is thankful to have had two months of racing under her belt before taking on the OVO Energy Women`s Tour held from June 10-15. Deignan took time off to give birth to her first child last fall and had initially scheduled to rejoin the peloton in June at the British Women`s WorldTour event, but instead took an earlier start at the Ardennes Classics. She expects the race to be more challenging than in previous editions. `This race was my first idea of when I would return to racing so I`ve come back earlier than expected, and thank goodness because this would be a pretty brutal beginning,` Deignan said in a team press release. Deignan returned to racing at the three Ardennes Classics and then competed in the Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of California. She told Cyclingnews in California that she had planned to race through the OVO Energy Women`s Tour to build high-end form ahead of her main target at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire in September.ADVERTISEMENT `I`m going to take a rest after this race, so this is the last block of racing for me before I have a rest.` Organisers of the OVO Energy Women`s Tour announced that they have added a sixth stage and a first-ever mountaintop finish, which will be held on stage 4 at Burton Dasset Country Park. `I think like always we`re going to have to be very prepared for the unpredictability of the stages,` Deignan said. `The only thing we can be sure of is that the first stage is flat and from there on in we have to be prepared for anything because I think those Welsh stages will be really difficult. You can read more at Cyclingnews.com