Teenage super-talent Cat Ferguson confirmed her unbelievable potential and confirmed she is able to step up from junior to the ladies’s WorldTour and elite racing by successful the junior time trial world title in Zurich.
Ferguson has already raced as a stagiaire with Movistar, successful a stage on the AG Tour de la Semois in Belgium. She solely turned 18 in April however seems prepared for a fast-track profession.
She dominated the 18.8-kilometre out and again course alongside the shore of Lake Zurich, clocking a median pace of 47.362 km/h and beating Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová by a hefty 34 second-margin. Her Nice Britain teammate Imogen Wolff, like Chladoňová set to show professional with Visma-Lease a Bike subsequent yr, was third at 36 seconds.
Ferguson races on the monitor and in cyclocross however has at all times missed out on a world title till now. France’s Julie Bego received the world title in Glasgow final yr, with Ferguson successful the dash for silver. On this yr’s Cyclo-cross World Championships, the Briton was on monitor to win earlier than two small errors allowed Célia Gery of France to get away and win by 5 seconds.
Ferguson has an opportunity for a second world title within the junior ladies’s highway race on Thursday.
“I’ve come second at about six main championships, I’ve by no means received a jersey, so with every silver I’m getting nearly extra indignant and annoyed and coaching tougher for the subsequent championship,” she informed Bike owner within the spring.
She could by no means race within the junior time trial world champion’s jersey however it’s hers to maintain and savour.
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“The frustration I’ve had earlier than makes this jersey much more particular,” Ferguson mentioned.
Ferguson’s 2024 outcomes are crammed with single figures, very like Tadej Pogačar. Her ‘worst’ outcome was a seventh place within the Biking Grand Prix Stuttgart & Area in Germany, throughout her spell within the elite ladies’s peloton with Movistar.
The Spanish staff has been on the lookout for a future expertise and potential staff chief within the making since Annemiek van Vleuten retired final yr. Ferguson agreed a long-term deal earlier than the 2024 season. Along with her college research and Junior years over, she will be able to totally give attention to her skilled profession with Movistar in 2025.
She raced on a Movistar staff problem Canyon bike since 2023, has attended coaching camps and racing with the staff in current weeks have made her shortly really feel a part of the squad, fast-tracking her entry into elite ladies’s racing.
“To have already got my contact with the perfect staff there’s, makes me so comfortable,” Ferguson mentioned.
“I’ve already finished some professional races and met the opposite women. They’re all so welcoming.”
Get limitless entry to all of our protection of the 2024 UCI Highway World Championships – together with breaking information and evaluation reported by our journalists on the bottom from the junior, under-23, and elite time trials and highway races because it occurs and extra. Discover out extra.
