Lizzie Armitstead: British champion battling sexism within cycling who is expected to win gold at Rio 2016

Lizzie Armistead has barely looked back since a boy at her school teasingly challenged her to a race and she thrashed him to pieces. The reigning World, Commonwealth and national road race champion has gone from strength to strength and firmly established herself as the leading female cyclist in the world.

Armistead is widely expected to win gold at the forthcoming Rio Olympics. The last Olympics saw Armistead take home the first British medal of London 2012 after ploughing through torrential rain to claim her silver medal. It is this resolute determination which the Yorkshire native is known for.

But who is the woman behind the reigning champion?

Born in the market town of Otley in West Yorkshire, Armistead was state educated at Prince Henry’s Grammar School. From a young age, Armistead proved herself as an athlete, beating teenagers in the Otley fun run at the age of five and finishing 10k races by the time she was 13.

But it was cycling, not running, which really caught her attention. This was partially sparked by a young boy who dared her to race him. “She only came out because she had been teased by one of the lads in her year. Had she not been teased, that this guy was going to beat her, she wouldn't have come out,” Johnny Clay, who discovered her on a British Cycling visit to her school, has since relayed to Press Association.

This has stayed with her and she has become something of a spokesperson for women’s cycling, often choosing to speak out about the problems encountered by female riders. “The sexism I have encountered in my career can be overwhelming and frustrating,” she said after winning her silver medal in 2012.

Speaking to The Independent in 2013, she said the biggest change since her statement was the fact the issue was actually being talked about. “There is more than one person talking about it. I feel supported now when I say it – people are agreeing with me which didn't happen before. Has there been any real change? Not just yet.” The pay disparity between male and female cyclists has been widely documented.

Armistead is determined to win Rio and will stop at nothing to do so. “Rio is the biggest goal of my season and of my career. I accept that,” she recently told Road Cycling UK. “I can pretend that I’m not too bothered and it’s not that big a deal but it is and it’s what I want, so I have to put all my eggs in one basket and go for it.”

And, as Armistead has said before, she does not give up easily. “I never quit. The times when I have quit in the past because I couldn’t face trying harder have stayed with me, and the guilt is not worth it,” she told Youth Cycle Sport in an interview, saying she was keen not “waste” her “talent”.

Her downtime might be few and far between but when she does relax, Armitstead likes to go out for a good meal with her “non-cycling friends”. “Most of my friends are non-cyclists. They are interested and proud of my achievements but, equally, if I stopped tomorrow they wouldn’t say much about it!” she explained. Although those meals do not feature meat because Armitstead has been a vegetarian since she was ten.

She also enjoys going out with her fiancé, Team Sky rider Philip Deignan who she is due to marry in 2016.

Based in Monaco, Armitstead has been known to beat F1 driver and fellow resident Jenson Button in cycling races. “It feels a bit silly name dropping but they are all out and it's good for morale sometimes to beat an F1 driver,” she previously told The Independent.