LIZZIE Deignan has been named as the headline signing for a new UCI Women's WorldTour team called Trek Factory Racing.

The Otley rider is sitting out the 2018 season after announcing her pregnancy earlier this year, but will leave the powerful Boels-Dolmans squad at the end of the season to join Trek.

The launch of the team was announced at a press conference in Aix-les-Bains on the first rest day of the Tour de France.

"The reason I chose Trek was because rather than see me as a risk in pregnancy, they saw me as an investment and as a valued athlete," said the 29-year-old Deignan.

"For me that was the biggest sign towards truly believing in equality, and I think as an elite athlete, my ambition is to always be with a team that supports you and gives you the environment that reflects what you put in.

"As long as I am 100 per cent committed I need a team that is 100 per cent committed. From the beginning they've approached this with that level of commitment."