Philip Deignan

Philip Deignan (Irish: Pilib Ó Duígeannáin; born 7 September 1983) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the Ag2r–La Mondiale, Cervélo TestTeam, Team RadioShack, UnitedHealthcare and Team Sky squads.[2] A former Olympian, Deignan won a stage in the 2009 Vuelta a España, and finished in the top ten in the general classification.

Philip Deignan
Personal information
Full namePhilip Deignan
NicknamePhilly, Deigy, Lippy, Nando, Tony, Andrew
Born (1983-09-07) 7 September 1983
Letterkenny, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimbing domestique (retired)
Amateur team
2004Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille
Professional teams
2005–2008AG2R Prévoyance
2009–2010Cervélo TestTeam
2011Team RadioShack
2012–2013UnitedHealthcare[1]
2014–2018Team Sky
Major wins
Grand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2009)

Stage races

Tour of the Gila (2013)

Career

Early career

Born in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Deignan first competed on a bike in 1997 during the annual Sligo to Letterkenny charity cycle.[3][4] He attended St Eunan's College for his secondary education.[5] Before turning professional in 2005, he rode for amateur club Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille where he performed well.

In the Baby Giro of 2004 after recovering from an earlier crash, he performed well on the mountainous stages.[6][7] He won the final stage and the general classification of the 2004 Ronde de l'Isard as an amateur. His first professional road race win was in the Tour du Doubs when he attacked a breakaway group that contained his fellow Irishman and teammate at the time Mark Scanlon.[8] Other notable performances were ninth place in the UCI World Championships Under 23 road race,[9] fifth place in European championship under 23 road race, and second place on a mountainous stage of the 2006 Tour de l'Avenir stage race.[10]

After an injury plagued early season, Deignan entered and finished his first grand tour with the 2007 Vuelta a España, there he finished prominently with 10th, 12th and 16th in several mountain stages.

He qualified to represent Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[11][12] He finished in 81st place (15 minutes and 53 seconds behind winner Samuel Sánchez and five minutes behind team mate Nicolas Roche) in the 150.2-mile (241.7-kilometre) road race on 9 August. Deignan along with Roche and Roger Aiken made up the Irish team for the 2008 World Championships in Varese on 28 September. None of the three finished the demanding 260-kilometre (160-mile) race.[13]

Cervélo TestTeam (2009–2010)
Deignan, riding for Cervélo TestTeam, at the 2010 Tour of California

For the 2009 season Deignan rode with the Cervélo TestTeam. He raced the Giro d'Italia, achieving a top ten finish in one stage and featuring prominently in others, with his team winning 4 stages in total. On 17 September 2009 he achieved his first grand tour stage victory, in stage 18 of the Vuelta a España into Avila, after a 2-man battle with the Czech Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas. By finishing 10 minutes clear of the peloton he climbed to 9th in the general classification.[14] He became the first Irishman to win a stage on a Grand Tour since Stephen Roche's last-stage success at the Tour de France in 1992.[15][16] Deignan was selected to ride for Ireland in the 2009 World Elite Road Race Championship in Mendrisio, Switzerland (23–27 September) alongside Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin.[17] After his Vuelta performance, Deignan reached a personal high 2009 world ranking of 71st. Deignan was the best Irish finisher when placing 40th at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race in Mendrisio. He ended the 2009 season UCI ranked 75th, with 61 points,[18] which helped Ireland to 16th in the team rankings.

RadioShack (2011)

It was announced after illness ruined his 2010 season, Deignan signed for Team RadioShack for 2011.[19][20]

United Healthcare (2012–2013)

After one season with RadioShack, he signed on with UnitedHealthcare for the 2012 season.[1] Deignan was able to rebuild his career with the US-based squad, winning the Tour of the Gila in 2013, and recording top ten overall finishes in the three biggest US stage races, the Tour of Utah (6th), the Tour of California (9th) and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (10th).

Team Sky (2014–2018)

Subsequently, Deignan announced he was returning to the UCI World Tour in 2014 by joining Team Sky.[21] He rode the Giro d'Italia which began in Belfast and travelled to Dublin in the opening stages. Deignan led Sky at the Tour de Pologne, finishing seventh overall. He also rode the Vuelta a España, where he helped Chris Froome to second overall.

In November 2018, Deignan announced his retirement from professional cycling.[2]

Personal life

Deignan married fellow professional road racing cyclist Lizzie Armitstead in Otley on 17 September 2016.[22] Deignan resides in Monaco.

Major results
2004
1st Overall Ronde de l'Isard
1st Stages 2 & 5
National Road Championships
2nd Under-23 road race
4th Road race
6th Boucle de l'Artois
8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège U23
10th Paris–Mantes-en-Yvelines
2005
1st Tour du Doubs
5th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
7th Overall Tour de Wallonie
9th Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
2009
7th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
8th Giro del Mendrisiotto
9th Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 18
10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
2013
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour de Beauce
6th Overall Tour of Utah
9th Overall Tour of California
10th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
2014
7th Overall Tour de Pologne
2015
5th Overall Tour de Yorkshire

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Giro d'Italia — 79 56 — 47 — — 43 — DNF 37
Tour de France Did not contest during career
Vuelta a España 71 — 9 DNF — — — 39 — — —
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References
  1. Frattini, Kirsten (23 September 2011). "McCartney and Deignan join UnitedHealthcare in 2012". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  2. "Philip Deignan retires after 14-year professional career". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  3. Deignan's first taste of cycling
  4. "Town honours Paddy Delap". Donegal Democrat. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. Ashmore, Chris (20 November 2014). "Top cyclists give an insight into their lives: Stars of today can inspire cyclists of tomorrow". Letterkenny Post. p. 25. Deignan rides with Team Sky and has been a professional since 2005... He recalled his days as a pupil in St. Eunan's College when very few people were cycling and how he really got the bug after taking part in the annual Sligo to Letterkenny cycle in aid of cancer research.
  6. "Deignan third on penultimage stage of Baby Giro". irishcycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  7. "Deignan shines in mountain stage in Baby Giro". irishcycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  8. "First pro win for Deignan". Irishcycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  9. "Deignan ninth in World Championships under 23 road race". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  10. "Irish squad announced for worlds". irishcycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  11. http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics2008/deignanp.html%5B%5D RTÉ Sport: Irish Olympic Team – Philip Deignan
  12. BBC Sport: Beijing biker
  13. "Menchov wins Tour of Spain, Deignan 71st overall". Irishcycling.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  14. "Deignan claims grand tour stage". Irish Times. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  15. Deignan on course for top 10 Archived 26 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, RTÉ News, 18 September 2009
  16. Historic win for Deignan in Spain Archived 22 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, RTÉ News, 17 September 2009
  17. Irish team for 2009 World Championships Archived 14 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Cycling Ireland, 10 September 2009
  18. 2009 Final UCI World Rankings Archived 24 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, UCI website, 19 October 2009
  19. Philip Deignan signs for RadioShack, cyclingnews website, 12 October 2010
  20. "Cycling: Relieved Deignan joins Armstrong's Radioshack team". Irish Independent. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  21. Wynn, Nigel (6 September 2013). "Philip Deignan signs to Team Sky for 2014". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  22. Jack, Jim (19 September 2016). "Crowds cheer on Lizzie Armitstead as she marries fellow cyclist Philip Deignan". Wharfedale Observer.
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