Great Britain's Lizzie Deignan has revealed she has lost two kilos of muscle after her emergency appendix operation, but the 2015 world champion is hoping the stars will align in Bergen and give her a shot at victory in Saturday's elite women's road race.
Deignan won the GP Plouay on August 26 but was rushed to hospital in Belgium four days later for emergency surgery.
"It's three weeks since my operation now. I had 10 days of bed rest and losing two kilograms of leg muscle means my peak power is nowhere near where it was. It's taken its toll for sure," Deignan admitted after training on the Bergen road race course for the first time on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It was frustrating seeing the course, thinking it was perfect for me. I was hoping that you could hide on the course, but I realised it will find you out. But there's still hope. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think that anything can happen.
"I'm used to going into the World Championships or the Olympics without great preparation, its not the first time that something has set me back. Even if I'm 10 per cent less than I was, that still might be enough to do something. If I don't try, I'll never know."
Deignan appeared to refer to her difficult 2016 season and the fight against a UK Anti-Doping ban over her alleged three strikes on her anti-doping whereabouts records. That derailed her build-up to Rio Olympics but she went on to race and finished fifth.
Deignan was named as team leader of Great Britain's Bergen squad and despite not being at her best will still be the protected rider. Elinor Barker, Alice Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Dani King, Mel Lowther and Hayley Simmonds will also race, with Barker and King expected to step up if Deignan realises she's not competitive.
"I'm an unknown now, so maybe the others will watch me and that could give the other GB girls a free reign," Deignan suggested. "There's no point in shepherding me. I can float around and look after myself. If I can follow the race winning move, great, if I can't the other will have a chance too."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2jPh7Yu
No comments:
Post a Comment