Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) praised the continuing rise in the standard of the women's peloton for keeping her motivated, despite revealing that she is considering retirement in 2019. Women's World Tour Champion Lizzie Deignan told PA Media that despite the ongoing challenge to make cycling more equal, she now feels like she is competing in a "new sport."

As of now, it is not certain if the 2021 race calendar will go as planned, but there are certainly plenty of races for women's World Tour followers to get excited about, including the first women's Paris-Roubaix in April.

After winning three World Tour races last year, Dignan will take on her first women's "Hell of the North" in the 2021 season, setting her sights on the Tokyo Olympics in July and the Flanders World Championships in September.

But it's not just the fresh events on the calendar that are pushing Dignan. She said, "It's really exciting [Paris-Roubaix], but there's also the fact that women's cycling has grown so much, and I'm really excited about it.

"I feel part of a new sport. It's harder to win races and that still motivates me; it's much harder now to win as many races as it was in 2016. It's not easy, that's what keeps me motivated."

"Back then I could attack and pull away on the steep uphill descents, but that doesn't work now. 'Now, because of the thickness of the peloton, I'm not as fast on the climbs and descents, and I can't make as much of a gap on the jumps as I used to.'

If the 2021 season goes as planned, Dignan will head to the Ardennes Classics after Paris-Roubaix in April. After that, she will set her sights on Tokyo, where she predicts the heat and humidity will be her biggest challenges.

But she has a game plan to prepare for this: "I'll build a greenhouse on top of my bike, or have a turbo session in the bathroom. It's pretty basic stuff, but I think it works pretty well."

With goals clearly drawn for 2021 and a contract that runs through the end of 2022, it's safe to say that retirement is on the back burner for now.

"It's very difficult to retire from professional sports and I want to be ready," she said.