One-day races in Cat Ferguson's sights during debut pro season with Movistar
18-year-old adds another world title to herꦏ collection with Great Britain's mixed team relay Cyclo-cross Worlds win
Teenage star 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Cat Ferguson added a fifth world title to her growing collection a the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships as part of the Great Britain team which triumphed in the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:mixed team relay event on Friday.
She'll take on the under-23 women's race along with fellow newly crowned world champion Zoe Bäckstedt on Sunday, while she's also preparing for her first assau🌳lt on the one-day Classics later this spring.
The 18-year-old Briton can already count junior world titles on the road (both road race and 🅺time trial) and the track (team pursuit and omnium), all won last seaso🧸n.
On the road, she made her debut as a stagiaire for Movistar last year and instantly opened her professional account winning a stage at the AG Tour de la Semois and then at 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Binche-Chimay-Binche pour Dames.
"It was a big shock last year and I'm super grateful to have been given the o🧸pportunity to race as a junior in professional races," said Ferguson, who signed with the Spanish team on a three-year deal over the winter.
"It was crazy and something that I'll neveඣr forget. I think at the minute I see myself as a one-day Classics rider. Classics and one-day races are obviously super hard, but for me as a young rider maybe it's a little bit easier to target them.
"I think the Grand Tour races are the toughest thing in the sport. I'd love to improve myself and get better at them. Hopefully, if I have a long and good career, that is something I would like to aim 𒈔for."
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Ferguson said that she'll "definitely" focus on one-day races at the start of her career, with the relatively shorter nature of the races more sui🍒ted to her endurance ability at this early stage of her career.
"For the start of my career, I definitely feel that one-day races are what I will focus on. It's just one day rather than back𒊎-to-back days that you need longer and have better endurance for," she said.
"I'll 💫have a break after the Cyclo-cross World Championships, then I'll be racing on the road near the end of March. I'll do some Classics, some big ones but not loads. I'm super-excited to get racing again with the road time."
Ferguson has already joined Movistar on a January training camp and says that she "couldn't be happier" to have signed for the team for three years. Despite finishing the road season in style, Ferguson has had a tougher introduction to elite cyclo♔cross raci🧜ng.
Her European 'cross season was on🧸ly a week old when she suffered a concussion after a heavy crash in the World Cup at Hulst. As a result, she was ruled out of competition for three weeks missing the Christmas period of races.
The teenager finished second at the British National Championships and then her season-best 16th at the UCI🌌 World Cup in Benidorm✨.
"It has been hard. It has definitely been a baptism of fire. Stepping up from junior is a big step to make. I have struggled ꦬto find my feet this season. Only one or two races have really gone my way," Ferguson💃 said.
"The crash at Hulst was not great, just as I was getting like into the feeling of 'cross that took me out for a bit and took me a while to come back, but stuff happens and that is part of bik🥃e racing."
However, the Briton struck gold again and played a key role in Great Britain's gold medal ride on Friday. She took home the rainbow jersey al꧟ongside Bäckstedt, Thomas Mein, Zoe Roche, Oscar Amey, and Milo Wills.
The British team were out of medal cওontention in the first h𝓀alf of the race before pulling back the medal positions in dramatic fashion. On the last lap of six, Thomas Mein took the front from fourth place and pulled out a winning advantage.
The victory was made even sweeter for Fergus🐼on and her teammates, with the team havꦆing been narrowly beaten into silver 12 months earlier.
"It's so nice to win the jersey with the team. To win it today was unexpected. It's super nice feeling and great with the team, like we're all super happy and proud of ✤each other," said Ferguson.
"Y✅ou don't put work in the relay, it's not a specific event you work for. It's a really ꦦfun and dynamic event and people love watching it.
"I think it's even more exciting than the main races, you don't know w𝓡ho is winning until right at the end."
Ben raced as an amateur cyclist in the UK from a young age into the senior ranks on the road, track and in cyclocross. He has an NQJ qualification in journalism, and a sports journalism degree, and has spent over 10 years as a news and sports journalist. Ben has been covering cyclocross for media outlets, including Cyclingnews, since 2021 and has been on the ground reporting at World Championships in Zolder, Belvaux, Valkenberg, Dubendorf, and Hoogerheide. Away from cycling as a freelance sports jouဣrnalist, Ben regularly reports on a range of sports including football, rugby, and snooker amongst 💃others. However, he is happiest whilst reporting on-site at cyclocross races in Belgium and the Netherlands.