Reigning world, British and Commonwealth Games champion Lizzie Armitstead admits she will be counting down the days after revealing she will contest this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.

Having won road race gold at Glasgow 2014 – improving on the silver she won in Delhi – Armitstead went on to win her first World Championships gold medal last year.

That earned the 27-year-old the rainbow jersey and Armitstead will wear it for the first time in front of a home crowd on April 30 for the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire.

And with the 135-kilometre race beginning in her home town of Otley, Armitstead can’t wait to get going.

“The Tour de Yorkshire Women’s race will be my first race in the UK in my world champions jersey and it’s an absolute dream to be starting in my home town,” said Armitstead, who will be riding for Great Britain as her usual team Boels Dolmans is not competing

British Cycling’s technical director Shane Sutton said: “To have a British rider wearing the rainbow jersey supported by British riders in a British race is something I’ll be very proud to see.

“Lizzie has had an outstanding season so far and I know she’ll do the jersey justice in front of a home crowd.

"I’m also pleased to say that we will be entering a second women’s team into the event, Team Breeze, which will be an excellent development opportunity for the female endurance academy squad.”

Sportsbeat 2016