Cyclist Lucy Garner on Tour de Yorkshire, equality and impressing in China
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 28/08/16 8:47am
A road cyclist clocks up the miles and with Rio four months away, Lucy Garner seems to be on two wheels in every corner of the planet.
The Sky Academy Sports Scholar was in action in Yorkshire last month and recently returned from the Tour of Chongming Island in Shanghai.
These are busy times for the 21-year-old from Leicester. An Olympic trip to Brazil in the summer is firmly on the radar and her form for Wiggle High5 suggests she could be in with a good shout for GB selection.
Here are Lucy's latest thoughts on equality in the sport, fighting sickness and impressing in China...
I was lucky enough to race in the Tour De Yorkshire recently. A one-day race for women with equal prize money to the men and also being shown live on TV is a great step in the right direction for women's cycling.
On the start line I had to just look around me for a while and appreciate all the people that had turned up to support us. It was a very, very early start but the crowds were so supportive and it was packed.
I honestly didn't feel amazing in the race. I kept going and told our team captain Audrey (Cordon-Ragot) I wasn't feeling well and didn't know if I would be up for the sprint. She always remained calm and positive and said she believed in me. Audrey really gave me the confidence.
The Wiggle High5 girls did an amazing job though. They brought back a group that were away for nearly 30km. I couldn't NOT sprint after the amazing work they did for me. I was positioned well and at the front. It was slightly up hill which I like.
I gave it everything but couldn't come around eventual winner Kirsten Wild but I was more than satisfied with second place.
The team were amazing and we all shared this second place. We really came together as a team and we showed it.
I had a couple of days to recover and they I was flying out to China to race a three-day stage race. The country is such a completely different world to the UK! I was staying in Chong Ming Island.
Everyone is racing around on run down motorbikes and small buggy type vehicles. The roads were extremely wide in the town and very busy but as we were there a couple of days before we got to explore a bit on the bikes and found some beautiful roads in the countryside.
The weather wasn't much different to the UK actually... We had rain, and lots of it, the only difference is that it is still very humid.
After my last experience with going to China I made sure I was prepared with food. I took my own tuna cans and different pasta pots. Every night it was mostly plain rice or egg fried rice so it was nice to have some home comforts to add to that.
We had a great few days of competing there with Chloe Hosking not only taking a stage win but also winning the overall General Classification race.
I was happy I could be a part of that and help Chloe and the team take the yellow jersey home.
I personally felt strong in the last two stages and was able to chase down attacks. Even after the first day I was in the young leader's jersey, which I didn't expect so it was nice to have worn a jersey for a day.
I now have a few weeks without racing, but that definitely does mean rest!
I have a big block of hard training ready to get me in form for the women's tour and the national championships which are later in June.
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS
19-27 MAY: Savannah Marshall, World Championships in Kazakhstan
22 MAY: Olivia Breen and Jessica Judd, Loughborough Internationals
27 MAY: Lucy Garner, Boels Hills Classic
28 MAY: Jessica Judd, Watford Open
29 MAY: Lucy Garner, Gooik
23-26 JUNE: Lucy Garner, National Road Cycling Championships in Stockton-on-Tees
