Cat Ferguson was always likely to shine at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich, but winning two junior world titles in the space of 48 hours was beyond even her greatest expectations.
The 18-year-old from Skipton, North Yorkshire, has been winning British national titles and gold medals in the Youth Olympics since her early teens. In 2023, she won the junior Tour of Flanders and took silver in the road race at the world championships in Glasgow. This season, she has won 12 races and her worst result is third.
Gold medals in the junior women’s time trial and road race in Zurich have now fuelled expectations of a glittering career. Flip comparisons with other dominant figures – the past world champion and Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke and the all-conquering Tadej Pogacar – are being made, but Ferguson, inspired as a child by watching Lizzie Deignan race at London 2012, is wary of getting carried away.
“It’s important to remember that I’m still only 18,” she says. “I’ve been given a lot of advice recently that I should take it slow. It’s important to not rush things.”
Confident, articulate and self-possessed – first riding up Alpe d’Huez as an eight-year-old – she has been the leading junior rider of the past two years and recently joined the Spanish World Tour team Movistar on a three-year contract.
She is the third British rider, after Nicole Cooke and Zoe Backstedt, to hold the road and time trial titles. “It’s great that I am winning at 18,” she says, “but I want to have a good career when I’m older. Longevity in my career is a priority.”
Ferguson is wary, too, of the relentless pressure that comes with professional racing at the highest level. “You have to be mentally strong, particularly as a cyclist,” she says.
“The mental side of cycling is almost as important as the physical side. A couple of riders this year have taken a break due to depression.”
“It’s great when riders show that it is OK to just stop. That’s really important for the cycling world. It’s important to remember we’re all still humans.”
Her pair of world titles were exhilarating victories, but came against a tragic backdrop, the fatal crash during the junior women’s road race of the Swiss 18-year-old Muriel Furrer.
According to the UCI, Furrer suffered a serious head injury before being flown to Zurich hospital in a critical condition. Her death was announced on Friday. “There is an investigation going on by the police and public prosecutor,” said Olivier Senn, the world championships deputy director.
Ferguson’s dad, Tim, a guiding light in Cat’s success, was shocked by Furrer’s death. “I’m getting back home elated, but her poor parents,” he said. “I don’t know how they can cope.”
His daughter’s fast track progression to World Tour level is all the more remarkable given that she has been riding for her father’s lowly Shibden-Hope Tech-Apex team, until a couple of months ago.
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Racing for Movistar will be a step up. Tim Ferguson’s battle to keep his team going, largely through parental funding, is indicative of the parlous state of the British domestic scene.
Yet his daughter and teenage teammate Imogen Wolff, who is joining Visma Lease a Bike, have progressed to the women’s World Tour. He says the change from his team to Movistar will be “night and day” for his daughter.
“We’re still struggling for a team car sponsor and a bike sponsor,” he says. “We can’t fly, so we drive everywhere. What do we have to do?”
Even in Movistar’s more luxurious environment, Ferguson will continue her apprenticeship. “I’m learning how to do a team role because I haven’t really done that. In my junior years, I was the one that was the leader, so I’m learning to be more of a domestique. But I’d still like to ride some races where I can be a bit more positive.
“I’d love to race all the professional versions of the races that I’ve done as a junior, like Flanders. I’m not sure about winning. I want to be at that level, but for the first year, it’s better to do the smaller races where I can compete in the whole race, rather than just having the goal of survival.”
When this season is over, she will combine training in Spain with her new team with the grittier terrain of home. “The culture we have there definitely develops great bike riders. You have to be quite gritty when you live in Yorkshire, with the roads and the weather and the people.
“I do loads of group rides and they’re great, but nobody just goes for a social ride. Each ride you do is like a smash-fest. That’s definitely contributed to the rider I am today.”