Lizzie Deignan has announced that she will officially retire from professional cycling at the end of 2025. The British rider is set to compete in her final race season with Lidl-Trek after agreeing a one-year contract extension that will allow her to focus on coaching and mentoring the next generation of cycling talent.

"Often people say, "Retire to the top.""But I have no ego or need to retire at the top. I'm really happy to be in a full circle and be someone who will help others win the bike race again," Deignan said.

"The first reason I wanted to retire was because I no longer had the motivation for my results. They spoke to me and offered me a contract in the vein of being a road captain and someone who could mentor young riders coming. Things like that cause a bit of motivation in me and I thought, yeah, actually that's what I'm really motivated to do. I really enjoy bringing out the best of the people around me. I still love cycling."

Deignan has won 19 pro road races over 43 seasons since it began in 2007 with the global racing team. She won the Elite Women's World Title at the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond in 2015, won the Commonwealth Title in 2014 and won multiple national champion titles. She won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

On the Women's World Tour, she is the only rider to win all 3 monuments offered to the Women's Peloton, who won the 2016 Tour of Franders, the 2020 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the first Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021. She also won the overall title with Strade Bianche, Rondo van Drente, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, GP Puluei and the British Women's Tour.

In her new mentorship role in 2025, Deignan said she would work with the team's incoming talent and team in some of the biggest races on the calendar. There are 4 new signings in the team, but they are already experienced professionals.From NIAMH Fisher-SD Worx-Protime's Black, Visma's Anna Henderson and Riejanne Markus-Lease A Bike and Emma Norsgaard Movistar.

However, the team signed young riders in the previous 2 seasons, including twin sisters Ava and Isabella Holmgren (19), Fleur Moors (19), Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (19) and Izzy Sharpe (2).

"I will use my experience to help them understand how to cope with the pressure in the big races," she said. "I think in cycling, marginal gains are everything, and sometimes the basics are forgotten. I'm there to remind them of the basics, emotions, instincts, and all the human aspects of it.

Deignan appeared on Rouleur Live on 11/15 to explain her decision behind another season of racing, rather than signing a multi-year extension.

"It was a sacrifice and we had to consider whether we wanted to do it anymore," Deignan told a member of the press, confirming that she made the decision only this year. "Not forever, I have another year and I'll turn the page." The Olympic year, not the opportunity to do another season that has no personal ambition, I really empower and motivate the young women in the team

Deignan also shared her thoughts in a social media clip from an interview with BBC Sports, she said, "All good." That comes to an end and I'm really proud of the career I've had, and if I'm honest with myself, probably not "I feel I can achieve something in my career that I haven't achieved yet." I think the fire and the determination it needs to be the best in the world is probably lacking. I am glad that I can stop on my terms. "

During her career, Deignan has raced with Lotto Belisol, Cervelo Test Team and AA Drink-LeontienNL before spending five seasons with Boels Dolmans (now SD Worx-Protime) from 2013 to 2018. She signed a contract with Trek-Segafredo during her pregnancy with her first child in 2018, and the team provided her with their full support. She officially joined the roster at the launch of the women's team in 2019 as one of the first hires 1.

Deignan returned to racing at Ardennes Classics in 2019, aiming for the World Championships in Yorkshire and proposing the possibility of ending his cycling career at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, she postponed her retirement and confirmed that she was not yet ready to end her career, becoming the first woman to win the Paris Rubé and crowned the "Queen of the Classics" in 2021.

The UCI had announced in 2020 that it had added maternity leave provisions among securities, such as insurance and minimum salary, to women's world Team contracts, but several teams, including Trek-Segafredo, had already included these types of provisions in rider contracts before UCI's policies.

"I am proud of every sponsor I have ever associated with. I don't think that's what every athlete can say, but I really represented a sponsor that I'm proud to represent," Deignan said.

Deignan announced in 2022 that she would take maternity leave during the pregnancy of her 2nd child and return in 2023. She had already joined Marta Bastianelli, Laura Kenny and Elinor Barker, paving the way for future generations of mothers working in world-class sports. 

Her season began again in 2023 with the Ardennes Classic and the Love Elta Femenina. She has since rebuilt her form and played a key role in the success of Lidl-Trek, but after crashing out on a tour of Flanders in 2024, she returned to help Elisa Longo Borgini win Maglia Rosa in the Giro d'Italia women's team and won the fourth edition of the Giro d'Italia in Paris. He represented England at the Olympics.

"Cycling is completely underrated as a team sport, right"I grew up in cycling and I'm so proud to be a part of that you start as domestique and you work your way up and you become a leader. Often people say, 'Retire on.'"But I have no ego or need to retire at the top. I'm really happy to go full circle and be someone who will help others win the bike race again," Deignan said.