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 mean velocity of 47.362 km/h and beating Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová by a hefty 34 second-margin. Her Great 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 monitor and in cyclocross however has all the time 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. In this 12 months’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 offended and annoyed and coaching tougher for the subsequent championship,” she instructed Cyclist 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 disappointment I’ve had earlier than makes this jersey much more particular,” Ferguson stated.
Ferguson’s 2024 outcomes are stuffed with single figures, very similar to Tadej Pogačar. Her ‘worst’ consequence was a seventh place within the Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart & Region in Germany, throughout her spell within the elite ladies’s peloton with Movistar.
The Spanish crew has been in search of a future expertise and potential crew chief within the making since Annemiek van Vleuten retired final 12 months. Ferguson agreed a long-term deal earlier than the 2024 season. With her faculty research and Junior years over, she will be able to absolutely concentrate on her skilled profession with Movistar in 2025.
She raced on a Movistar crew subject Canyon bike since 2023, has attended coaching camps and racing with the crew in latest weeks have made her rapidly 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 crew there may be, makes me so pleased,” Ferguson stated.
“I’ve already performed some professional races and met the opposite women. They’re all so welcoming.”
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