Sky Scholar cyclist Lucy Garner on a brutal and uplifting Women's Tour
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 24/03/17 1:10pm
Just a week before the Women's Tour of Britain, Lucy Garner crashed twice in one day in a race in Belgium. Pulling out of the event in front of her home fans was not an option.
Having overcome a long-standing knee problem, a grazed set of legs and a sore head were not going to keep the 20-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar from Leicester off her bike.
The double world junior champion did not let herself, her Liv-Plantur team-mates or her country down.
It was over 370 miles long, five stages, culminating in a sprint finish in Hemel Hempstead on Sunday night. Lucy may have finished 33rd overall but she showed enough grit and firepower in a glorious third stage to show there's plenty more to come in the build-up to Rio. Here is her insight to the race....
The crowds were so supportive on every stage and I can't believe how many people are so passionate about making women's cycling bigger and better!
Lucy Garner
The racing in the Tour was unbelievably tough and the pace every day was very high. The first stage (Bury St Edmunds to Aldeburgh in Suffolk) we were sprinting for my team-mate Sara but unfortunately it was a hectic finish and we didn't get the result we wanted.
The second stage (Braintree to Clacton in Essex) was again a very hectic final and I lost the wheel of my teams-mates in the last kilometres. I had good legs but when you have to work yourself to get to the front it's then really hard to sprint.
I was too far back and finished 10th. Up until that point I was disappointed on how I had been racing. I knew I was in form and had good legs but it just wasn't showing in the results.
The third stage (Oundle to Kettering in Northamptonshire) had a hard finish but I liked that. The team did an amazing lead-out and I was able to finish third after a tough day of racing up and down on a hard course. It was great for me to be back up there mixing it in the sprint and gave me confidence again. I also won the best British rider and best young rider jerseys, so that was a bonus!
The last Tour stages were tough and I didn't have the legs to do anything. The fourth stage (Broxbourne to Stevenage in Hertfordshire) there were a few crashes I got caught behind as it rained very hard.
The hills were longer and the pace was high. It was great to hear my name so many times out on the course - that gave me that extra percent to push on.
Overall I am relatively pleased with how the Tour went for me. To be top 3 in a hard stage has made me confident but at the same time it would have been great to have been up there in the other stages.
My experience of the Aviva Tour was again amazing. The crowds were so supportive on every stage and I can't believe how many people are so passionate about making women's cycling bigger and better!
It's already a huge event but I think in the future it will be one of the biggest stage races on the women's calendar.
Lucy Garner is one of 12 athletes being supported through the Sky Academy Sports Scholarships scheme.
The Scholarships offer a programme of support tailored to each athletes specific requirements covering areas such as funding, media coaching, mentoring and wider developmental support.
