Lucy Garner joins Wiggle Honda on two-year deal

Lucy Garner has become the second rider from Liv-Plantur to sign for Wiggle Honda from next season after Amy Pieters announced her move earlier this month. 20-year-old Garner turned professional with the Liv-Plantur team in 2013 has signed a two-year contract with the British team.

"It's obviously a huge team, a really professional team, and they've had a lot of success," Garner said. "For me, I just need the next step, a new challenge, and I feel that it's that time now in my career when I need to make that step, and I think that Wiggle Honda they can really support me and help me with that. They're really, really positive, and they really believe in my abilities as a sprinter.

"It's really nice to hear that, that they really believe in me, so I'm really looking forward to working with them."

Garner, a two-time junior road race world champion, won stage 1 at the La Route de France and has regularly placed top-five throughout the season. The opportunity to race alongside two-time world champion Giorgia Bronzini and Jolien D'hoore next season was too good an opportunity to pass up as Garner explained she is looking to further develop her skills with the team.

"It has been a good three years. But I'm definitely looking, especially next year and the year after, to build on my sprint, and also work on building a bigger engine so I can be there in the finals," Garner said of her move. "That's another real reason why I'm going to Wiggle Honda; they will give me real opportunities to be in the final, but not necessarily always sprinting."

Acknowledging the depth of talent at Wiggle Honda, Garner added she does not expect to be given a leadership role immediately. 

"There's going to be a lot of good riders on Wiggle Honda, but it's really good for me just to ride the races to make me stronger. That's definitely going to help me in the future with my sprinting," she added.

Team owner Rochelle Gilmore explained the signing of Garner is important for both business and sporing aspects and expects her to reach her full potential with the squad.

"This is an extremely exciting signing for the future of our team and for our British based sponsors and fans," said Gilmore. "It's the perfect moment to have the opportunity to start working with Lucy. We'll have a very busy race schedule in 2016 and with many athletes focusing on Rio, we'll have plenty of opportunities to support Lucy's development and ambitions.

Emma Johansson has also been announced as signing for the 2016 and 2017 season with further announcements regarding rider movement forthcoming.