Deignan headlines Tour of California Women's Race

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Lizzie Deignan will headline Trek-Segafredo's roster at the Tour of California Women's Race, which starts May 16 in Ventura and finishes two days later in Pasadena. The former world champion just returned to competition in April, seven months after the birth of her first child, and will be one of the most anticipated riders on the well-attended start line in Ventura next Thursday.

Deignan will line up with a strong team of six riders - announced in a post on Twitter by Trek-Segafredo - that includes Tayler Wiles, Ruth Winder, Lotta Lepistö, Trixi Worrack and Lauretta Hanson.

Worrack is a former overall winner of the Tour of California Women's Race, securing victory in the 2015 edition ahead of Leah Kirchmann and Lauren Komanski. More recently, Wiles finished second overall behind Katie Hall in last year's edition.

Deignan returned to competition at the Ardennes Classics, competing in Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where she rode in support of her teammates into the final stages of each race.

She also lined up at the Tour de Yorkshire, where the peloton had an opportunity to preview parts of the UCI Road World Championships course. In Yorkshire, Deignan was 23rd on the opening stage and then 28th on the second and final stage. Although she may not be ready to contest the finals for victory, yet, she has certainly had a strong starting point.

The Tour of California will mark the end of her first block of racing, in what is just one step in her overall goal of winning another world title at the Yorkshire World Championships.