Teenage super-talent Cat Ferguson confirmed her unimaginable 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 velocity 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 12 months, was third at 36 seconds.
Ferguson races on the observe and in cyclocross however has all the time missed out on a world title till now. France’s Julie Bego gained the world title in Glasgow final 12 months, with Ferguson successful the dash for silver. On this 12 months’s Cyclo-cross World Championships, the Briton was on observe 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 girls’s highway race on Thursday.
“I’ve come second at about six main championships, I’ve by no means gained a jersey, so with every silver I’m getting virtually extra indignant and annoyed and coaching more durable for the subsequent championship,” she advised Bicycle 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 stated.
Ferguson’s 2024 outcomes are crammed with single figures, very like Tadej Pogačar. Her ‘worst’ end result was a seventh place within the Biking Grand Prix Stuttgart & Area in Germany, throughout her spell within the elite girls’s peloton with Movistar.
The Spanish group has been searching for a future expertise and potential group chief within the making since Annemiek van Vleuten retired final 12 months. Ferguson agreed a long-term deal earlier than the 2024 season. Together with her college research and Junior years over, she will totally deal with her skilled profession with Movistar in 2025.
She raced on a Movistar group problem Canyon bike since 2023, has attended coaching camps and racing with the group in latest weeks have made her shortly really feel a part of the squad, fast-tracking her entry into elite girls’s racing.
“To have already got my contact with the very best group there’s, makes me so blissful,” Ferguson stated.
“I’ve already finished some professional races and met the opposite women. They’re all so welcoming.”
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