Lucy Garner on starting her season Down Under and goals for 2016
Monday 11 April 2016 11:23, UK
Lucy Garner got her season under way in Australia last month.
The 21-year-old finished 53rd overall in the four-day Santos Women's Tour and then 17th in the one-day Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in her first outings for new team Wiggle-High5.
She is now back in the UK getting stuck into the European season.
Here are the latest thoughts from the Sky Academy Sports Scholar….
I'm pleased to say I've had a really good start to the year. My winter training was probably the best I've ever had, I'm loving life at Wiggle-High5 and I kicked the season off quite well in Australia.
Now I want to keep the momentum building back here in Europe. There are a handful of smaller races in Holland, such as the Ronde van Gelderland, that I've done well at in the past and I'm hoping for some decent results again this year.
Further down the line, the Women's Tour is also a big goal. It's my home race and I would really like to do well there.
Later in the year, the Olympics are obviously another major target. The road race takes place on a very hilly course and that doesn't necessarily suit me, but you never really know what the selectors are looking for.
Lizzie Armitstead is going to be the Great Britain team leader and she will need help on the flatter sections before the climbs.
I'm into my fourth year in the professional peloton now, so I'd like to think I can perform that role for her.
Then, right at the end of the year, the World Championships take place in Qatar on a course that suits me a lot better.
We will have to see how Lizzie comes out of the Olympics because, as the current world champion, I'm sure she will be keen to defend her title.
But purely from my perspective, it's a flat course and it has a technical finish, which I like, so I'm just hoping I can build up as much form as possible for Qatar.
It will be hard to do that because the Worlds are in October this year and we are usually in our rest period then, but if an opportunity arises, I would love to take it.
Aside from individual races, one of my big priorities is to generally make a step up in my results.
I've spent the last three years getting used to life as a professional and gaining experience, so now I want to start getting some results.
Hopefully, being with Wiggle-High5 will help me do that. I had the opportunity to stay with Liv-Plantur but I felt like I needed something new and a change of environment to mark this next phase of my career.
Hopefully it proves a wise move. You never know until you do it.
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS…
JAN 16 - MARCH 5: Siobhan O'Connor, Australia
MARCH 2-5: Lucy Garner, Le Samyn des Dames
MARCH 11-15: Elise Christie, World Championships, Seoul
March 7-13: Jack Bateson, Chemistry Cup, Germany
MARCH 12/13: Quillan Isidore, British BMX Round 1&2, Manchester
