Lizzie made to sweat for team gold

SWELTERING conditions turned the opening day of the Road World Championships in Doha into an ordeal by heat but recently married Lizzie Deignan (formerly Armitstead) and her Boels-Dolmans team came through the time trial with flying colours. Deignan, who was controversially allowed to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics despite missing three drugs tests, was racing for her Dutch paymasters and switches to represent Britain today, when she will be targeting a successful defence of her road race world title. Yesterday, the extraordinary temperatures took a toll on the competitors, who raced in 38-degree heat. Several dropped out or needed medical assistance for heat exhaustion. Deignan combined with Evelyn Stevens, Chantal Blaak, Ellen van Dijk, Karol-Ann Canuel and Christine Majerus to win the 40-kilometre event in 48min 41.62sec. Canyon-Sram, a squad that included Britain’s Hannah Barnes, finished second and another Brit, Ciara Horne, claimed bronze with Cervelo Bigla. Deignan (right) said: ‘We worked really hard this season and I think that we’ve shown to be the most dominant team in world cycling. ‘It was really important to us that we finished this season off with this medal. I’m very proud of the team.’ Time trial specialist Stephens said that while the heat was far from enjoyable, the team was ready for it. ‘We spent some time in a sauna last week in Holland and we got here early enough to adapt to it,’ she said. ‘It’s not a heat that I want to ride in again, but I think that we did a good job of managing it and getting prepared.’ Team-mate Roxanne Knetmann added: ‘I cannot explain how excruciating it is riding 40km through the desert. It’s horrible, like riding in a sauna.’ It has been a rocky few months for Deignan after revelations she had come close to receiving a ban for missing three anti-doping tests. It affected her performance in Rio, where she finished out of the medals, but not in Qatar. She said: ‘I’m part of the strongest team in the world not just because we’re great at riding our bikes but we’re great at supporting each other. I’ve been very well looked after and, mentally, this week it was no problem.’ The men’s event was won by Belgian squad Etixx-QuickStep in 42:32.39. Britain’s Team Sky, including Britons Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift and Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, finished fourth.