The moment has arrived for Britain's Lizzie Deignan, who returned to racing six months ago from maternity leave with the goal of winning the rainbow jersey in the elite women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire.

Speaking to a small group of journalists two days before the race, Deignan said she was coping well with the increased pressure of leading Team GB in her home country and embracing the opportunity to race among family and friends.

"I honestly don't think much about the fact that the race is coming up in 48 hours," he said.

"Normally I don't watch the race, I stay in my room and don't do much, but this time I took a slightly different approach. I'm just soaking up the race and enjoying the atmosphere. [The women's 150km road race starts in Bradford and heads north to Masham in North Yorkshire before heading south to the three challenging finishing circuits in Harrogate.

This course suits her perfectly, with the town of Otley, where Deignan grew up, on the way. She will race with her parents, her local community, and friends and family, including her husband Philip and her daughter Aura, who just celebrated her first birthday.

"It's very different," she says. But it's also part of my daily awareness of the people in my life. Usually they give me a ring the night before saying, 'Good luck tomorrow,' but for my friends, family, and locals, I think there's more pressure than usual because it's been going on for a little while. How will you feel when you pass your parents' house during the race?

"It's an unreal, pinch me moment. I'm riding down the road from the school I went to, the road I used to walk to school every day. I had just started cycling, didn't really know what I was doing, and it wasn't a cool sport.

"I have friends who think it's awesome, but they have no idea what it was like to be a cyclist. Yeah, it's going to be a special and surreal moment."

A team consisting of Lizzie Banks, sisters Alice and Hannah Barnes, Nikki Juniper, and Anna Henderson will support Dignan in her quest for a second world title. Dignan is a proven competitor, having won the world title in Richmond in 2015.

She returned to racing this year and won the OVO Energy Women's Tour. Team GB's greatest asset, however, is the spectator and home team advantage.

Dignan agreed that Team GB has the advantage simply by virtue of the fact that he has ridden the same roads hundreds of times as a cyclist who grew up in the area. He said, "Especially on a course like this, it's undulating and unforgiving. [Positioning is key. On these roller coaster-like roads, if you drive in the wrong place, you end up going uphill instead of downhill. So there are a lot of places on this circuit where you can save energy.

Degnan gave birth to her daughter last September and returned to racing with Trek-Segafredo at the Ardennes Classic in April. She gradually set performance goals. Initially in a domestique role, she helped her teammates in the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour de Yorkshire, and the Tour of California in May.

She then won the OVO Energy Women's Tour (UK) before taking a mid-season break. She then focused on special training to improve her high-end form in order to win the world title in Yorkshire.

"Physically I'm as good as I've ever been and I'm really proud of that. It took a lot of hard work and determination to get back to that level, but that doesn't mean I'm not as powerful as I was in 2015," Deignan said.

"The women's peloton is moving forward, so even though I am back to my best, or best ever, it is a completely different peloton now, so to win the title I have to be better than before on Saturday.

Indeed, Team GB will also face other powerhouses in the women's road race, including a Dutch contingent of eight riders, including Marianne Foss, Anna van der Breggen, and Annemiek van Vleuten. Also competing will be Australia's Amanda Spratt, Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma, American Colin Rivera, and Italy's Marta Bastianelli.

"I've only taken a year off and I can tell you that the number of women in the top class of this sport has increased significantly. I think it's great that there are so many different winners and more women who can become professionals in every sense of the word. I'm amazed that this has happened in such a short period of time," Dignan said, elaborating on the reasons for the surge of top-level athletes in women's cycling. [More women now have access to training camps, physios, osteos, nutritionists, and all the other components that make up a professional athlete.

Deignan said that the power of the team plays a major role in road racing for athletes who are aiming for a world title. She watched the junior men's race on Thursday, where American Quinn Simmons won solo from a small chase group, 56 seconds ahead of Alessio Martinelli (ITA). American teammate Magnus Sheffield finished third, 1:33 behind.

"Tactically I think it will be a very tough race. The Dutch have a lot of women who can compete for the world title and I don't think we can match them in team strength. I think they are our biggest challengers."

"Watching the junior racers, they were very worn out after just two laps of the circuit, but the race and parkour were very similar.

"Maybe a lot of the racers go from the back of the field instead of the front. But it really depends on the tactics of the other teams."

Dignan said it would be harder to win in Yorkshire than when he won the world title in Richmond. She will be under more pressure than any other player on the starting line in Bradford, putting everything she has into winning her second world title, being the home favorite and the sole leader of the British contingent. How well she handles these pressures and expectations will determine her success at Harrogate.

"Yes, it's just, it's a great opportunity and it would be outrageous for it to be a negative thing," Dignan said. [But it's just a bike race, and whether I win or lose, the world keeps turning. I just want to enjoy it. It's crazy to look at it negatively."