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Lizzy Banks

@elizzybanks

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🚴‍♀️Retired pro cyclist
📧@bespoke_m
Ambassador for exploring
Bikes. Cats. Outdoors

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Wow, what a week! All hail women's bike racing! 📢 On cloud 9 after a dream week for my first ever commentary gig for the @thetourofbritain . Five days of racing on brilliant British roads. The world works in mysterious ways sometimes but I am grateful to the way it worked this time. It was one hell of a learning curve and no, it's not as easy as it looks! 😅

A huge thank you to the whole production team who were so patient, encouraging and supportive as I learnt the ropes. But the biggest thanks must go to @dani_rowe_mbe . Dani put her confidence in me and put my name forward for this job, then coached me through the week with kindness and a shared passion for this beautiful sport.

I have been watching bike races for years and I and know just how subjective commentary can be. I tried to bring what I would want to hear and know, attempting to make it accessible to those who've never watched the sport (welcome!), but still interesting and insightful to those who've watched for donkey's years. What a joy to have free live bike racing. More eyeballs = more fans of the sport. Keep bike racing free for the people!

A big thanks to the main actors, the riders for bringing us such a brilliant race. Hats off @kimlecourt for a dominant performance and turning it around from 2025. And wow, what more to say about the Queen @lorenawiebes , she can do it all and we are witnessing something truly special.

Finally a big thanks to you lovely lot. You're a good bunch of eggs and you've been with me through thick and thin. You have always supported me on this internet that can be so nasty, but thanks to you, usually demonstrates the very best side of us humans. ❤️

Keep knocking on those doors, because you never know who will open them or when it will happen. Happy to be "happy" to be back 😅 and you're not going to wipe this smile off my face any time soon. ☺️ by @elizzybanks

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2 months ago

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women starts tomorrow and believe it or not, I'm going to be on the start line (sort of). I'm thrilled to say I'll be commentating under the tutelage of @dani_rowe_mbe for the UK free to air coverage of the race this week. What a privilege to be able to cover one of the best races in the sport and it got me all reflective about this full circle moment. I wrote a meandering reflection on The Women's Tour (as it was back in 2019), how I joined The Cycling Podcast and coming back to women's cycling this year. You can read it on my Substack which is imaginatively titled "Lizzy Banks" or the link to the article is also in my bio.

The race will be free to watch on the Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel with daily highlights on ITV4 and ITVX

📸 Caught on film by @gabrielbinstagram by @elizzybanks

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2 months ago

It feels great to be back at a bike race, nothing quite compares to the buzz that live sport gives you. I felt quite emotional to see the size and scale of @letourfemmes and the number of fans out on the roadside in Lausanne yesterday for this sport i still love so much. I'm out here with @thecyclingpodcast where we've got daily episodes with all the inside scoop from the race with @dennyjgray and @roseemanley . Head to wherever you get your podcasts to listen to our recap from stage 1.

Looking forward to a bunch sprint into Geneva today before the race heads in my new home roads in the French Jura tomorrow. Looking forward to this afternoon's watch party hosted by @aldem.cc at @mylittlecup.ch in Nations, Geneva. Come and say hi if you're there!

Thanks @sergiosst_photo for the pictures! by @elizzybanks

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3 months ago

After 2 tortuous years, I finally have a result from the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Please go to my website, www.lizzybanks.co.uk to read my write up of the last 15 months of my life. If you watch sport, work in sport, or have any opinions on sport at all, reading the entirety of my article will be well worth your time. The system is damaged beyond repair. I am not the first, and I will not be the last. But for me, now, this hell is finally over. I am ready to walk away with my head high and start the process of rebuilding my life and career.

My website is linked in the bio.
www.lizzybanks.co.uk by @elizzybanks

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a year ago

Goodbye Sheffield house. We have loved you so very much and poured our hearts and souls in to making you a wonderful place to live, love, laugh and bring up a family of cats. It's time for someone else to love you as much as we did and it's time for us to turn the page and write a new chapter in our lives. taken in Walkley, Sheffield, United Kingdom by @elizzybanks

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a year ago

Catty New Year ➡️ Swipe right for more cats on bikes 🙀

It took two hours of protestations and meltdowns before @gabrielbinstagram could manage to get me out on the bike. I still not only have no desire to ride it these days but often I can't think of anything worse. But in the end, of course, it wasn't terrible, not at all. We went slowly, it was gorgeously sunny and we saw lovely cats. Mind over matter is all very well but when your mind is still a bit broken then sometimes you have to completely disregard what your mind is telling you.

I'm not a new year, new me kinda gal. We don't miraculously change our ways and habits overnight and the things that are going on in our lives don't magically disappear once the clock strikes 12. I do, however, see a new year as a point to be able to take stock and do a bit of a reset. To work with what you've got, not what you used to have or used to be. My resolution is simply to make realistic goals, things that are achievable for me, as I am now, not as I used to be, and to try to be kind and understanding to myself in trying not to compare myself to "before".

Happy New Year all and thank you all so much for your amazing love and support ❤️ taken in Avully by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

Tomorrow, I will be at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. I will be self-represented in dispute of WADA's appeal of my case. 17 months of fighting for fairness and for what is right has led me here. I haven't given up. I will not give up. To coin a phrase by Emily Chappell, I feel that I have an invisible peloton carrying me forward. Bizarrely, I am not (currently) nervous. Perhaps that speaks volumes of the fact that I know that what I am representing is what is right and can and I hope, will, change honest athletes' lives. It will be the end of February before I have news of the outcome, that will be 19 months to the day since this started. by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

I did a silly thing yesterday. I ran a 57km mountain marathon with 3000m elevation 😵‍💫. Normally, the route would circumnavigate the dents du midi mountain range but after a week of incessant rain and then plummeting temperatures leading to significant snowfall in the mountains, half the race had to be rerouted for safety so that we "only" went up to 2100m. It was absolutely spectacular with the peaks of the dents du midi drifting in and out of the cloud as we traversed the mountainside.

A week ago, I wasn't sure if I would even start the race, let alone finish. I hadn't run for a month for various reasons. I had a horrible bout of food poisoning that stopped me doing anything for 2 weeks and the other 2 weeks were challenging and busy with final submissions for WADA's appeal at the court of arbitration for sport. I entered this race in April after UKAD cleared me and I could never have imagined that we'd still be knee deep in this shit. Excuse my French.

It's been over a year now and although in many ways, we are both healing and managing to move on, we are still in complete limbo, life is on hold and any chance of working in cycling is out the window until this is all over. Having said that, our life without professional cycling is so different and there are a lot of things I do like. Running. Exploring the mountains. Making plans that you can actually stick to. Spending time with friends and eating whatever the hell I want. This post-cycling life continues to challenge us and will do for some time, but we are trying to make the most of it.

Some exciting news regarding woodworking coming soon 🔜 Yes, I know your cats are all begging for their tables! Love to you all ❤️ taken in Champéry, Switzerland by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

A year ago today was unknowingly my last professional cycling race. A year ago tomorrow is the anniversary of my foster brother falling out of a tree, shattering his spine and compressing his spinal cord becoming (thankfully) temporarily paralysed. I guess the point is try to appreciate today because god knows what tomorrow will bring. Easier said than done sometimes. Last night it was easy. A glorious golden hour running along the top of the Colomby de Gex with only chamois for company 🌄🦌Today I am nursing a very swollen ankle 😅

In other news, WADA have been given yet another extension to file their submissions. I *should* receive them next week... It's yet another chapter of the book I didn't want to have to write but wait until you read it because some of this shit they have come out with is absolutely wild. At this point though, I can't exactly say that I'm surprised. The saga continues! by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

Back home from two weeks and three weddings full of loveliness, laughter and tears of joy, happiness, love and friendship. Lots of time spent catching up with our wonderful friends and family in Sheffield, Malvern and Falmouth 🥰 When the world tries to throw all it's s&*£ at you, it's quite amazing how humans come together and remind you what the most important things in life really are ❤️ We were reminded just how lucky we are to have our wonderful community of school friends, uni friends, cycling friends, family and all those others we have picked up along the way. We also accidentally helped (coerced) our friends to buy a kitten 😻

Back to reality for us now though. Update re WADA appeal is that we are still none the wiser as to their basis of appeal. As if this process hasn't been long enough already, WADA were granted a 20 day extension to make all their submissions. I should receive them next week, then UKAD and I have 20 days to independently file our own submissions. Weirdly, we are now sort of on the same team 😹. Just like in cycling, it must be reassuring for them that they are now on my team rather than my opponent 😅, their chances of winning have increased exponentially 🤣.

In my last week of "freedom" before being chained to the computer once again I'll be back at the wood workshop, attempting to reverse my ever decreasing state of fitness, walking in the mountains and hosting our Spanish friends to introduce them to the wonders of a cream tea! 🫖 Generally I'll be trying to channel some inner calmness. It's difficult to convince my brain not to just freak out about not knowing what's next and not being able to move on. Most of the time my brain doesn't manage it, but we are working on it together and day by day things improve 💆🏼‍♀️ by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

WADA have appealed. I don't know the basis for their appeal, they haven't stated one. They maintain that I should have a 2 year ban and that my results should be taken away.

It is both deeply disappointing yet at the same time remarkably unsurprising. Whilst scientists, doctors, athletes, lawyers and so many others have read and critically assessed my article and references and engaged in meaningful discussion about the limitations of the current anti-doping rules, WADA's response is typical of their approach. That is to say, they bury their heads in the sand and carry on regardless.

I found out on Wednesday and spent a couple of days feeling very fed up and sad. Today I have turned the corner. I am now even more determined than ever to make sure that this system that is so rigorously stacked against athletes is righted and that meaningful change will come as a result of this battle.

What's next? The case will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I'm told this process may take months.

I was still working my way though responding to all your messages when I got this news. I will be a little busier than anticipated now but I will still endeavour to get back to you all. Thank you X by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago

“I ate at a restaurant and after, I saw a sign saying ‘Meat may contain growth hormone’ - I was terrified - despite eating a vegetarian meal.

Ex-GB cyclist @elizzybanks on the extraordinary lengths it takes to be a clean athlete. 🚴‍♀️

#sports #cycling #athlete by @elizzybanks

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2 years ago