Lizzie Deignan leads six-strong Yorkshire contingent in world road race championships

Deignan, formerly Armitstead who married Sky rider Philip Deignan earlier this month, will attempt to defend the title she won last year in the elite women’s road race.

She is among a six-strong Yorkshire contingent in the Great Britain squad named for the championships which take place in Doha from October 9-16.

The team for the women’s race also includes Abby-Mae Parkinson, from Dewsbury, while three Yorkshire riders have been named in a 10-strong squad for the elite men’s competition.

The squad, which will be reduced to nine for the race, includes Sheffield’s Adam Blythe, Ben Swift, from Rotherham, and Burley-in-Wharfedale’s Scott Thwaites. Swift was second in this year’s Milan-San Remo classic and eighth overall in the recent Tour of Britain.

Blythe is the current national road race champion and Thwaites recently completed the Vueleta a Espana.

The British team will be riding in support of Mark Cavendish, who is aiming to be crowned world champion for the second time on a course which has been designed to suit the sprinters.

Gabriel Cullaigh, from Holmfirth, is in a six-strong Great Britain team for the under-23 men’s road race.