Philip Deignan (Irish: Pilib Ó Duígeannáin; born 7 September 1983) is an Irish Olympian and professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Team Sky. He was educated at Saint Eunan's College.
Born in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Deignan first set foot on a bike in 1997 during the annual Sligo to Letterkenny charity cycle organised by Paddy Delap. He has been professional since 2005. Before that he was riding for amateur club Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille where he performed well.
In the Baby Giro (Giro d'Italia for amateurs) of 2004 after recovering from an earlier crash, he performed well on the mountainous stages. He won the final stage & overall 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. Other notable performances were ninth place in the UCI World Championships Under 23 road race, 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.
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. He finished in 81st place (15 minutes and 53 seconds behind winner Samuel Sánchez and five minutes behind team mate Nicholas Roche) in the 150.2-mile 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 km race.
Subsequently, Deignan announced he was returning to the UCI World Tour in 2014 by joining Team Sky. 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 Espana, where he helped Chris Froome to second overall.
Deignan married fellow professional road racing cycling Lizzie Armitstead in Otley on 17 September 2016.
2005-2008 |