WORLD champion Lizzie Armitstead has signed a two-year extension to her deal with the crack Dutch team Boels-Dolmans.

The announcement came just three days after the 27-year-old received a hero's welcome at the start of the women's Tour de Yorkshire in her home town of Otley.

Armitstead, who had taken the previous week off to concentrate on other matters, came home 26th as Dutch rider Kirsten Wilde scooped the £15,000 top prize.

The race was part of her build up to the Olympic in Rio where she hopes to win gold after taking silver at London in 2012.

Armitstead signed her new contract on the same day that team manager Danny Stam also agreed to remain with the highly-successful outfit.

The current World Tour leader Armitstead has had a stunning start to the year with the most recent of her four victories coming in the Tour of Flanders.

Armitstead, who first joined Boels-Dolmans in 2013, said: “Over the past few years the team has gone through a development which has brought us collectively to a high level of cycling.

"We always approach each race to win as a team and often only need a look or a sign to know what is about to happen. I have achieved my greatest sports successes in this environment and look forward to continuing my career here. We have a solid and professional organisation standing behind us, which enables us to maintain our current high level of performance.”