Throughout her career, Lizzie Deignan has been used to throwing her arms in the air to celebrate victory, though last season was a bit of an anomaly as she worked her way back into race mode after returning to the peloton from having her second child in April.
“2023 was my first season without a victory and I haven’t been shy about stating that this year, I want to reverse that trend,” said Deignan in a team statement. “I know I can and I said in December that all I needed would be a strong winter behind me. I think I now have that, I’ve put the work in and I am pretty optimistic about being able to win again.”
The 35-year-old’s first opportunity of the season will come at Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which tackles the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg combination of cobbled climbs in the final 16km.
“I am not going to say that it will definitely happen this weekend, it can take time to find your race rhythm after the off-season but I am certainly ready to try & excited to get back to really racing to win in 2024,” said Deignan.
Given that, it was hardly a bad season when she returned in 2023, with the British rider finishing in the top three multiple times and she’ll this year be starting the season at a race where she has thrice found her way to the podium.
“It’s been two years now since I’ve raced Opening Weekend and I’m really happy to finally be back here and to be lining up as part of this team for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a race I won in 2016,” said Deignan. “It’s the type of race that I like. It’s never easy, it produces tough and gritty racing and I doubt that will change this year.”
During the two seasons Deignan has been absent from the race, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) has taken solo victory while in 2022 Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) beat Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) in a two-up sprint to the line. It is a race where the Lidl-Trek women's squad, formed in 2019, has never claimed victory but there is plenty of reason for optimism in 2024.
"Since Omloop adopted the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg finish, the old Tour of Flanders finish, bunch sprints have become rarer here but we are heading to the start with a line-up of really strong women, a group more than capable of winning in different scenarios and we will all work hard for that outcome," said Deignan.
"It was really motivating to watch Elisa Balsamo get our first two wins of the season in the bunch sprints at Valenciana and I think she should come to Belgium with a lot of confidence in her form ahead of Saturday, and also for Hageland on Sunday.
"Likewise, Elisa Longo Borghini is a rider that you never want to discount. She likes this type of racing too, likes an aggressive race and isn’t shy about attacking off the front and making things difficult herself if she needs to."
The team also has other powerful support riders and potential cards, in Lauretta Hanson, Brodie Chapman and Ilaria Sanguineti at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. At Omloop van het Hageland on Sunday Deignan and Longo Borghini will make way for Elynor Bäckstedt and Clara Copponi.
