Lizzie Armitstead
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Elizabeth Mary "Lizzie" Armitstead (born 18 December 1988) is an English professional world champion track and road racing cyclist. She is, as of 27 September 2015, the reigning World, Commonwealth and National road race champion. Armitstead is also the reigning and twice winner of the season-long UCI Women's Road World Cup, winning the overall competiton in 2014 and the final edition in 2015. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Armitstead won the silver medal in the road race.
Prior to her road career Armitstead won a total of five medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2009 and 2010, including a gold medal in team pursuit in 2009 with Joanna Rowsell and Wendy Houvenaghel.
Early life
Armitstead was born in the market town of Otley in West Yorkshire, where she attended Prince Henry's Grammar School, a state comprehensive school. She took up cycling in 2004 after British Cycling's Olympic Talent Team visited the school.[2][3] She is a graduate of British Cycling's Olympic Podium Programme. Armitstead has been a vegetarian since the age of ten.[4]
Track career
Armitstead won a silver medal in the scratch race at the Junior World Track Championships in 2005, she was under-23 European Scratch Race Champion in 2007 and 2008, and came second in the Points Race in 2007.
Armitstead was a member of the gold medal winning team pursuit squad at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, her second appearance at a senior world championship event. She also competed in the scratch race, where despite being brought down in the closing stages of the race, jumped back on to claim the silver medal. She completed the championships with a full set of medals, winning bronze in the points race whilst riding with her right wrist numb and strapped up — she was only able to move her forefinger and thumb.
Road career
2009–2011
In 2009, Armitstead joined the Lotto-Belisol cycling team and rode a number of top level road races. She won the under 23 category of the British National Road Race Championships and the silver medal in the senior category after some controversy.[5][6] In 2010 she rode for Cervélo TestTeam.[7] Armitstead decided to stay with the franchise in its new formation as Garmin–Cervélo throughout 2011.[8]
2012
Following the discontinuation of the Garmin Cervélo women's team, Armitstead rode for the AA Drink-Leontien.nl team in 2012.[9] Armitstead built the whole of her campaign around the summer Olympics, where she would go on to win the silver medal in the road race at the 2012 Summer Olympics, behind Marianne Vos, in so becoming the first Briton to win a medal at the 2012 Olympics.[10]
2013
Having had to move teams in the past two seasons due to teams disbanding, Armitstead signed for the Boels Dolmans Cycling Team for the 2013 season.[11][12] Her 2013 season was affected by a recurring stomach illness which was eventually diagnosed as a symptom of a hiatus hernia.[13] Even with her well documented medical concerns Armitstead emerged victorious at the British National Road Race championships – claiming her first white, red and blue jersey.[14]
2014
In April 2014 it was announced that Armitstead had renewed her contract with Boels Dolmans until the end of 2016.[15] Armitstead enjoyed a career-best year, starting with a win at the Omloop van het Hageland. A week later she also won the first World Cup race of the season, the Ronde van Drenthe, after team mate Ellen van Dijk closed a significant gap for her in the final kilometres of the race.[16] At the third World Cup race, the Tour of Flanders, she finished second behind Ellen van Dijk. Armitstead took part in the inaugural 2014 La Course by Le Tour de France in Paris on 27 July 2014, but crashed with 1 km to the finish.[17] A week later she won the women's road race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[18] Armitstead, overhauled Emma Pooley with 7 km to go to win her first major gold medal.[19] Armitstead won the UCI Women's Road World Cup with a race to spare on the 24th August 2014.[20] An 8th-place finish in the Open de Suede Vargarda was enough to secure the overall title.[21]
2015
For the 2015 season Armitstead stated again her intention to build towards the UCI Road World Championships. Armitstead claimed the first overall win of her career taking the Ladies Tour of Qatar stage race, as well as winning two stages. Armitstead then went on to take victories at the one day World Cup races Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, along with the Boels Rental Hills Classic.
In June, Armitstead was forced to pull out of the Aviva Women's Tour after colliding with a group of photographers seconds after winning the first stage of the tour in Suffolk.[22] However, ten days later she had recovered sufficiently to win convincingly the British National Road Race Championships for the third time[23] taking her to the top of the UCI world rankings.[24] In August, she sprinted to victory in the final World Cup race of the season, the GP de Plouay, to retain her World Cup title ahead of her main challenger, Anna van der Breggen.[25]
To cap her best season to date, on September 26 Armitstead won the UCI World Road Championship gold medal in Richmond, Virginia, USA, beating van der Breggen in a sprint from a small group of nine riders at the finish line, becoming the fourth British woman to win the world road race title after Beryl Burton, Mandy Jones and Nicole Cooke.[26]
Palmarès
Road
- 2006
- 1st
British National Circuit Race Championships - 1st WCRA Criterium Championships
- 2007
- 1st British National Circuit Race Championships
- 2008
- 2009
- 1st U23 British National Road Race Championships
- 2nd British National Road Race Championships
- 1st Young rider classification Giro d'Italia Femminile
- 3rd Overall Tour de l'Ardèche
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 6
- 2010
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de l'Aude
- 1st U23 British National Road Race Championships
- 1st Stage 6 La Route de France
- 1st Points classification Tour de l'Ardèche
- 1st Stages 3, 4 & 5
- 2nd British National Road Race Championships
- 2nd
Road Race Commonwealth Games - 9th Road race UCI Road World Championships
- 2011
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of Chongming Island
- 2nd Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
- 1st British National Road Race Championships
- 1st Points classification, Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
- 1st Stage 6
- 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 2012
- 1st Omloop van het Hageland
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 2nd British National Road Race Championships
- 2nd
Road Race, 2012 Summer Olympics - 2013
- 1st British National Road Race Championships
- 2nd Ridderronde Maastricht
- 3rd Overall Holland Ladies Tour
- 1st
Sprints classification - 1st
Combination classification
- 1st
Combativity award Stage 2 Energiewacht Tour- 2014
- 1st
Road Race Commonwealth Games - 1st
Overall UCI Women's Road World Cup - 1st Omloop van het Hageland
- 1st Ronde van Drenthe World Cup
- 1st Otley Grand Prix
- 2nd Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
- 1st
Points classification - 1st
Mountains classification - 1st Stage 1
- 1st
- 2nd Trofeo Alfredo Binda
- 2nd Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen)
- 2nd La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
- 2nd Emakumeen Saria
- 3rd Drentse 8
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 3rd British National Road Race Championships[27]
- 3rd RideLondon Grand Prix[28]
- 2015
- 1st
UCI Road Race World Championships - 1st Overall UCI Women's Road World Cup
- 1st British National Road Race Championships
- 1st
Overall Ladies Tour of Qatar
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stages 3 & 4
- 1st
- 1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda
- 1st Boels Rental Hills Classic
- 1st The Philadelphia Cycling Classic
- 1st GP de Plouay
- 1st Stage 1 The Women's Tour
- 2nd Strade Bianche
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Track
- 2005
- 1st British Junior National Track Championships (Points race)
- 2nd UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (Scratch race)
- 2nd British Junior National Track Championships (500m TT)
- 3rd British Junior National Track Championships (Scratch race)
- 2006
- 2nd British Senior National Track Championships (Scratch race)
- 2nd British Junior National Track Championships (Points race)
- 2nd British Junior National Track Championships (Pursuit)
- 3rd British Junior National Track Championships (Scratch race)
- 3rd British Junior National Track Championships (500m TT)
- 2007
- 1st
U23 European Track Championships (Scratch race) - 2nd U23 European Track Championships (Points race)
- 2008
- 1st U23 European Track Championships (Scratch race)
- 1st U23 European Track Championships (Team pursuit)
- 1st Points race 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Manchester)
- 1st Scratch race 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Manchester)
- 1st Team pursuit 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Manchester)
- 1st Scratch race 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Melbourne)
- 1st Team pursuit 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Melbourne)
- 2nd European U23 Trach Championships (Points race)
- 2009
- 1st Scratch race 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Copenhagen)
- 1st Team pursuit 2008–2009 Track World Cup (Copenhagen)
- 1st UCI Track World Championships (Team pursuit)
- 1st 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking (Scratch race)
- 1st 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking (Team Pursuit)
- 1st Team pursuit 2009-2010 Track World Cup (Manchester)
- 1st Points race 2009-2010 Track World Cup (Manchester)
- 2nd UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Scratch race)
- 3rd UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Points race)
- 2010
- 2nd UCI Track Cycling World Championships (Team pursuit)
- 2nd UCI Track World Championships (Omnium)
- 2011
- 1st British National Track Championships (Points race)
- 1st British National Track Championships (Scratch race)
- 2015
- 1st Points race, Revolution – Manchester (Round 3)
- 1st Points race, Revolution – Glasgow (Round 4)
References
- 1 2 "Athletes: Elizabeth Armitstead". london2012.com. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ↑ Feekins, Steve (19 January 2012). "London Olympic hopefuls: Lizzie Armitstead". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armistead only took up cycling to get out of maths, claims PE teacher". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Fotheringham, William (29 July 2012). "London 2012: Lizzie Armitstead flowers in the rain with quick silver". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ Richardson, Simon; Cleverly, Ian. "Cooke wins unprecedented tenth title". Cyclingweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Richardson, Simon. "Cookson overrules to reinstate Armitstead". Cyclingweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ "Armistead signs with Cervélo". Cyclingnews.com. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Armitstead, Lizzie (15 September 2010). "Team axe was a shock but we had fitting finale". Thisislondon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Armitstead, Lizzie (12 January 2012). "Kids taught me a lesson on my return to school". Thisislondon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Slater, Matt (29 July 2012). "Lizzie Armitstead wins Olympic Silver Medal". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Atkins, Ben (28 September 2012). "Lizzie Armitstead leads host of new signings at Dolmans-Boels". Velonation.com. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- ↑ Croydon, Emily (23 January 2013). "Lizzie Armitstead questions if new teams will change women's cycling". BBC Sport.
- ↑ Armitstead, Lizzie (24 October 2013). "Lizzie Armitstead blog: I've finally got to the bottom of the stomach illness that has blighted my 2013 season". skysports.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead solos to win National Road Race Championships in Glasgow". Cycling Weekly. 23 June 2013.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead Renews with Boels Dolmans". Cycling News. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ↑ "Help from van Dijk elevates Armitstead". Yorkshire Post. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead crashes out of La Course by Le Tour as Marianne Vos sprints to victory in Paris". The Telegraph. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Commonwealth Games: Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Pooley win road race gold and silver". Sky Sports. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Glasgow 2014: Lizzie Armitstead & Emma Pooley win gold and silver". BBC Sport. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead wins Women’s World Cup". Cycling Weekly. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead wins 2014 UCI Women’s Road World Cup". The Guardian. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Armitstead out of Women's Tour after crashing into photographers". BBC Sport. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ↑ "Peter Kennaugh, Lizzie Armitstead win British road race titles". BBC Sport. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead: best in the world". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ "Lizzie Armitstead retains Road World Cup with win in France". BBC Sport. 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Fotheringham, William (26 September 2015). "Lizzie Armitstead claims gold to become world road champion". theguardian.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ↑ "Laura Trott and Peter Kennaugh win British road race titles". bbc.co.uk. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ↑ Bull, Nick (9 August 2014). "Giorgia Bronzini wins Prudential RideLondon Women’s Grand Prix". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lizzie Armitstead. |
- Rider biography at British Cycling
- Profile at MTC (management company)
- Lizzie Armitstead profile at Cycling Archives
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