Lizzie Armitstead clearly had Donegal on her mind as she won the World Championships in Richmond; let's all take it one step further.
Great Britain's Lizzie Armitstead became the new elite women's World Road Race Champion in Richmond last weekend with the most commanding performance of her career.
She attacked the select group hard up the last incline as the big guns closed in on the finish.
And while that move was snuffed out and she was stuck on the front going into the sprint, she simply let Holland’s Anna van der Breggen open the gallop.
Once the Dutch woman did that, Armitstead slotted in behind her for a moment and took her slipstream before passing her for the win.
Now engaged to Ireland's Philip Deignan of Team Sky, Armitstead will be eligible to become Irish soon enough if she wants to.
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We can think of no better woman we'd like to see switch nationalities, here's six good reasons why...
She’s marrying a Donegal man
Armitstead has been in a relationship with our own Philip Deignan for quite some time now and recently they became engaged to be married. The Donegal man from Team Sky has done well for himself. And if the photo (above top) that he Tweeted after his fiancée’s Worlds victory is anything to go by, when they have both hung up their racing wheels they’ll be heading for Deignan’s native Donegal. If she’s marrying a Donegal man then she’s mad enough to be Irish.
She’s an amazing rider
Armitstead had taken a string of world class results long before her Worlds win in the US last weekend. She is now the reigning world, Commonwealth and British champion and took silver at the Olympics in London 2012. She has won the UCI Women’s Road World Cup twice, including this year. She has five World Track Championships medals in her palmares, including gold. So she’s definitely good enough to be Irish.
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She’s a good advert for vegetarians
Yes, not content with being a world class bike rider who has triumphed over and over again at the highest level, she’s also a vegetarian. She converted at the age of just 10-years-old showing she’s independent minded enough to be Irish. The Irish colours also suit her, above.
She bounced back after this
She won the opening stage of the Aviva Women’s Tour in Aldeburgh in the UK in June and threw her arms up in victory only for it all to go very wrong. A gust of wind caused her to lose control and she milled the photographers packed into the side of the road. While forced out of the race she was back on the bike in no time showing she is hard enough to be Irish.
She’ll go to Rio with a great chance
Okay, we already have Katie Taylor bringing home bags of gold medals for Ireland wherever she boxes. But wouldn’t it be great to have Armitstead in the Irish team as well? She may even go one better than London 2012, above, and bag a road race gold. Apart from that, she’d be a great mentor for all of the young Irish riders coming through the ranks now. When she won the Worlds she immediately said her focus was all about Rio. And on her way home to Yorkshire with her gold medal and rainbow jersey she enjoyed a brief stay in Ireland. It seems she loves the place enough to be Irish.
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