Philip Deignan is an Irish Olympian and professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Team Sky.
Education
He was educated at Saint Eunan"s College. 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.
Career
Early career
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 Louisiana 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.
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. He qualified to represent Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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.
Cervelo Test Team (2009–2011)
Foreign the 2009 season Deignan rode with the Cervélo TestTeam.
By finishing 10 minutes clear of the peloton he climbed to 9th in the general classification. Deignan was selected to ride for Ireland in the 2009 World Elite Road Race Championship in Mendrisio, Switzerland (23–27 September) alongside Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin. After his Vuelta performance, Deignan reached a personal high 2009 world ranking of 71st.
Deignan was the best Irish finisher when placing 40th at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships – Men"s road race in Mendrisio.
He ended the 2009 season UCI ranked 75th, with 61 points, which helped Ireland to 16th in the team rankings. RadioShack (2011)
lieutenant was announced after illness ruined his 2010 season, Deignan signed for Team RadioShack for 2011.
United Healthcare (2012–2013)
After one season with RadioShack, he signed on with UnitedHealthcare for the 2012 season. Deignan was able to rebuild his career with the United States-based squad, winning the Tour of the Gila in 2013, and recording top ten overall finishes in the three biggest United States stage races, the Tour of Utah (6th), the Tour of California (9th) and the United States of America Pro Cycling Challenge (10th).
Team Sky (since 2013)
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.
Professional victories (3)
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
Palmarèson