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 profitable the junior time trial world title in Zurich.
Ferguson has already raced as a stagiaire with Movistar, profitable 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 12 months, was third at 36 seconds.
Ferguson races on the observe 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 12 months, with Ferguson profitable 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 street 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 virtually extra offended and annoyed and coaching tougher for the subsequent championship,” she informed Bicycle owner within the spring.
She might 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 full of single figures, very similar to 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 staff has been on the lookout for a future expertise and potential staff 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 faculty research and Junior years over, she will totally concentrate on 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 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 one of the best staff there’s, makes me so blissful,” Ferguson mentioned.
“I’ve already performed some professional races and met the opposite ladies. They’re all so welcoming.”
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