Lucy Garner (Argos-Shimano) – first ever professional win at the Tour of Chongming Island

It is easy to forget Leicester-born star Lucy Garner is still a teenager – with two junior world titles to her name in 2011 and 2012, her rise to prominence has been rapid. And the diminutive 19-year-old – who also made her senior world road race debut this season as part of Lizzie Armitstead’s support team – continued to impress in her debut professional campaign. Her switch to Argos-Shimano, it was hoped, would prove to be the next big step for the youngster and so it proved as she sealed her first professional win in May.

After making her debut in major races such as La Fleche Wallone Feminine and the Women’s World Cup event at the Tour of Flanders, Garner highlighted her undoubted talent at the 2.1-ranked Tour of Chongming Island. The short stage – just over 70km in length – was disrupted by a strong headwind and a crash within the final two kilometres, but Garner showed experience beyond her years to recover from losing her lead-out’s wheel. Aware of the headwind, the teenage ace delayed her sprint to perfection, before blasting across the line ahead of strong opposition including Australia’s Lucy Hosking (Hitec Products) and Wiggle-Honda star Giorgia Bronzini.