[ad_1]
<div data-max = "1" data-markup = "
">
Lizzie Deignan earned her first victory since returning to professional cycling after her maternity leave on Friday, winning the fifth leg of the OVO Women's Tour.
Deignan defeated Katarzyna Niewiadoma in the final meters of the 140km race that ended in Builth Wells, Wales.
"I can not really describe it, it's probably the most beautiful victory I've had in a long time," said Deignan, "I really enjoyed it and really enjoyed it and I'll do it a long time."
With his victory, Deignan accumulated enough seconds of bonus to take the lead of the race of the German runner Liane Lippert (Sunweb). She is now leading with one more step, one second ahead of Niewiadoma.
This victory marks Deignan's first victory in the UCI Women's World Tour since August 2017. In early 2018, Deignan announced that she was moving away from professional cycling because of her pregnancy. In September 2018, she and her husband, Philip, welcomed a daughter, Orla. Deignan returned in 2019 as the leader of Trek-Segafredo's new women's World Tour team. She jumped off the pavement clbadics and made her comeback race at the Amstel Gold Race for the hilly clbadics.
"I have doubted my return every day, probably since the day she [her daughter Orla] was born but I received incredible support from my family, especially my husband, who accompanied me every step of the way, "said Deignan. "I've definitely thought of him on the finish line today."
Deignan has seen steady progress in its races, recording promising results in the recent Amgen Tour of California with the SRAM race. Deignan then showed that she was at her best during the first stages of the OVO Women's Tour. She was second in the second leg of the race, placing her in the top three overall.
The winning attack on Friday's stage was 20 km from the end. Deignan escaped from Niewiadoma and his team-mate Elisa Longo Borghini during a strong climb to the QOM. The trio worked together to keep the pack in charge. Longo Borghini led the trio in the home stretch, and Deignan managed to contain Niewiadoma in the sprint until the line.
"I probably went a little early in the sprint, but it was good in the end, because I think I might have a second on Kasia at the finish," Deignan said. "It's hard to judge a finish you've never seen before. But thank you very much to Elisa, because it is to her that we managed to reach the end with such a gap. "
The race ends Saturday with a 125.9-kilometer stage of hills linking Carmarthen to Pembrey County Park.
