Surgery won’t stop Lizzie Deignan in bid for gold at Road World Championships

The British team are confident Lizzie Deignan can still go for gold at the Road World Championships, despite having her appendix removed less than three weeks ago.

Before being rushed to hospital, the 2015 world champion had been the favourite for the defence of her title in Bergen, Norway, on Saturday.

But Olympic track champion Elinor Barker, part of the British team tasked with helping Deignan win gold, is confident her compatriot can triumph. “She seems really positive,” Barker told Standard Sport. “The rest might have done her good. It’s not like she’s recovering from a broken bone.

“The target is the same and it would be special to be a part of winning gold. It would be historic as only the second British woman to win it twice [after Beryl Burton].”

This is Barker’s World Championships debut, having switched to the road for the latter part of 2017 and she has two chances to make her mark. She rides in the individual time trial today and the road race on Saturday.