Briton looking forward to racing in front of huge home crowds
Tuesday 9 June 2015 10:52, UK
Lucy Garner says she is fit again after a long-standing knee problem and is looking forward to racing in front of some of the biggest crowds in professional cycling at the Women’s Tour of Britain later this month.
The second edition of the five-day race will be held from June 17-21 and a selection of the world’s best riders are expected to take part.
Last year’s inaugural race was an overwhelming success thanks to the tens of thousands of fans who lined the roadsides to see then world and Olympic champion Marianne Vos win three stages and take overall victory.
Garner, who is a Sky Academy Sports Scholar, is set to be selected for her Liv-Plantur team after shaking off a knee problem that has dogged her since December and is hoping to claim a stage win.
Speaking to Sky Sports as part of Women in Sport Week, she said: “I’m ready and looking ahead to the Women’s Tour. It’s huge. Obviously it was new last year and no one knew what to expect, but the response that we got from women’s cycling was huge.
“They [other riders] couldn’t believe the amount of public and the amount of support that we got out there on the roads. Now, it has set a really high standard and all the teams want to be there racing because it is really good women’s racing there.
“We have got a really strong team. For me, it would be really great to get a stage win, but we also have a couple of girls who are aiming for the Women’s Tour.”
Although the Women’s Tour has significantly boosted the profile of women’s cycling in the UK, the ladies’ side of the sport continues to play second fiddle to the men’s throughout Europe.
Hardly any women’s races are televised and the exploits of riders such as Lizzie Armitstead, who has enjoyed a constant stream of success in the past two seasons, continues to go unnoticed in the eyes of the wider British public.
Garner believes running women’s races on the same day as the men’s equivalent has helped to grow the sport, but she insists there is still vast room for improvement.
“Women’s cycling is still in the shadows in Britain,” she added. “We have had success with Lizzie at the Olympics and she is doing amazingly at the moment, competing against the best in the world.
“It would be great to get a bit more publicity behind women’s road cycling, but it’s definitely getting better.”
