Expect the unexpected, says Lizzie Deignan as Women's Tour begins

On Sunday, the capital will host the finale for the first time in the race’s history, with a 62km blast around the streets set to culminate in a sprint finish on Regent Street St James’s.

But to get there, the peloton will need to tackle a series of long days in the saddle starting on Wednesday in Northamptonshire - with three of the five stages around 150km in length.

Whoever is in the race leader’s green jersey by London will have been made to earn it, with Britain’s former world champion Lizzie Deignan of Otley starting out as favourite after taking overall victory here last year.

Twelve months ago, Deignan took over the race lead with victory on stage three in Chesterfield, and the Derbyshire town could again prove decisive as the start and finish venue for stage four, which takes the riders through the Peak District.

Deignan has put a difficult 2016 - when she faced questions over missed anti-doping tests in the run up to the Olympics - behind her, and she secured a hugely impressive win in the Tour de Yorkshire when she last raced on home roads in April.

“It is about expecting the unexpected in this race,” she said. “You can’t ever lose focus here because there is always something around the next corner. I am prepared for anything,” Deignan said at the 2017 Women’s Tour press conference.

“I went back to basics in May, I didn’t race and I did a load of base miles again. In terms of speed I may not be the fastest here but I am looking to use this race as preparation for the nationals.

Deignan is relishing another opportunity to lead a British success on home soil.

“It has developed into a race that everybody targets,” she said.

“I am not very good at stage races normally (but) having the home crowd and a very strong team helped me achieve that victory last year.”

With the powerful Boels-Dolmans squad behind her, the 28-year-old will be tough to stop but there are plenty of candidates as this race again attracts the world’s best.

Previous winners Lisa Brennauer (Canyon/SRAM) and Marianne Vos (WM3 Pro) will be on the start line, as well as Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervelo-Bigla), who finished runner-up to Deignan last year.

British squad Wiggle High5 will pin their hopes on Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, who is hoping she has shaken off an illness which disrupted her preparation.

“Finally I’m healthy again, because I’ve been through some bad weeks,” she said. “I took one week off, then I started building up again.

“I feel fine now, and hopefully I can be in good shape for the Women’s Tour. I will try to work very well with my team, and I’m pretty sure we can achieve good results.”

All 15 Women’s WorldTour teams will race, alongside British squads Drops and Team WNT - the latter including Katie Archibald, who won Olympic gold on the track in 2016.

Nineteen-year-old Abby-Mae Parkinson of Dewsbury also rides for the DROPS team.

She finished 40th on home roads at the Tour de Yorkshire and 28th in the general classification at the recent four-stage Tour of California.

Away from the GC battle, it is the finale in London which is seen as a coming-of-age moment for the race as the capital comes to a standstill for the event for the first time.

“Having the race finish in London on such an iconic circuit takes the event to another level, providing the ultimate platform for women’s sport,” said race director Mick Bennett.

British national champion and sprint specialist Hannah Barnes (Canyon/SRAM) will be among those chasing victory in the grandest of settings.

“The final stage in London will be really exciting,” she said. “The crowds are always great and the course has a lot of corners plus some hairpins so it will be explosive and with the stage being shorter than the previous days it will be more intense and a great finale to the tour.”