And while more and more British riders are attracting attention on the Women's WorldTour, since the WorldTour began in 2019, Deignan is the only other British rider to win a WorldTour race, with Team DSM・Only Pfeiffer Georgi of Firmenich Post NL. He won the 2023 Bruges-de-Panne one-day race.
George, 23, is a strong one-day racer who also captains his team in the peloton and protects other riders when he's not racing, such as sprinting on flat stages.
Many of Britain's best female talents in the peloton focus on one-day events and time trials. Climbing is still relatively new and is an unusual type of race on the women's side of the sport.
“I love the one-day classics,” says Eleanor Backstedt of Wales, another one-day racer and time trialist with the potential to win big.
“I love flat, hard, windy races. I don't do so well in the mountains. Cold, wet races are more my preference.”
Backstead, 22, comes from a strong cycling background, along with his younger sister and 19-year-old world junior champion Zoe, who is “the peloton's favorite rider”. Both their mother and father have raced experience, with their father Magnus winning the men's Paris race. Roubaix 2004.
Backstedt's sister, who plays for Deignan's Riddle Trek team, said: “I've had a tough few years injury-wise. [Trying to compete for wins] It's something I want to do more of. I feel like I'm good enough at reading the race to be in that position.”
And the list of potential British competitors goes even deeper, including the 22-year-old, who finished second in the inaugural Tour de L'Avenir Femme in 2023 and is part of the dominant SD works team. That includes Anna Shackley and Anna Henderson, who placed fourth in the competition. Last year's World Time Trial Championship was held at Visma-Lease A Bike.
