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In the end, the women’s junior road race was almost a repeat of Tuesday’s women’s junior time trial at the World Championships.
A competitive race, won convincingly by teenage phenomenon GB’s Cat Ferguson, with Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová. Ferguson jumped straight into the arms of her parents, Tim and Sara, and then got her hands on a second rainbow jersey of this Worlds, her fourth of the year across track and road. It seems easy for the 18-year-old.
The overwhelming emotion on Thursday, however, was one of “relief”, the rider from Yorkshire explained afterwards. After a tough race in the pouring rain of Zürich, where Ferguson came to the line in a three-person group after 73.5km of racing, all eyes were on the woman in the British kit.
After making the decisive move along with Chladoňová and Spain’s Paula Ortiz on the final major climb of the race, the Witikon, Ferguson was the watched rider. She was forced to lead the trio under the flamme rouge, knowing that too much playing around could see them be caught, despite it being over a minute and a half with 5km to go.
She didn’t need to worry. After Ortiz opened up the sprint, Ferguson sprinted herself, and there was daylight between her and her rivals come the finish line. There was also time to sit up and celebrate, a celebration which consisted of pointing to the air before roaring with delight. Ortiz finished second behind, millimetres ahead of Chladoňová.
Pointing to the sky was a poignant tribute to her mum, who died when Ferguson was two, but the roar that followed was one of pent up frustration.
“I would say I was relieved,” Ferguson observed of her emotions at the finish. “I worked so hard for this race in particular all year, and I knew going into the race that I would not be happy with anything but gold. Crossing the finish line there was pure relief that I had done it, and I didn’t have to feel the emotions I had last year.
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“I knew that they would probably look to me in the sprint, and I didn’t want to get caught, there were riders quickly closing on us. I took the front and I was confident that as long as I didn’t go too early that I could hold them off.”
It was a nail-biting watch for her parents, just beyond the finish line.
“It’s surreal, there’s almost relief as much as joy, but it has been a surreal week,” Tim Ferguson said. “She came so close last year, and today was so special. She really wanted today.”
“All she has wanted all this season was to win this race,” Sara Ferguson added. “It was nervous to watch, and I know she was very nervous coming into it, because anything can go wrong. “
It was the last race for Cat Ferguson as a junior; she has already signed a contract for Movistar, won a race for them in fact, so it is unlikely we will ever see the rainbow jersey in a race.
“It’s a bit sad, I heard Lotte Kopecky yesterday saying that the junior years were the best years of her life and that you should enjoy them,” she said. “I agree, there’s less pressure, it’s all about learning, and I’m incredibly grateful for the two years.
“I’m thankful to my parents, to British Cycling, Movistar, and Shibden Hopetech Apex. It’s been so much fun, I’m ready for a new chapter now, but I’m closing the junior years out with a great race.”
The 18-year-old is already moving on, with a race for her new senior team coming in a few days time, but there is time to realise the achievement of this week. It’s only the sixth time that the same junior woman has won the time trial and the road race. Interestingly enough, she’s the third Brit after Nicole Cooke and Zoe Bäckstedt, two riders to emulate.
“I have three more races to do with Movistar, the off-season is not for a while yet, but tonight I’ll celebrate,” Ferguson said.
She has a lot to celebrate too; this is her 12th win of 2024, and she hasn’t finished lower than second at a junior race. Ferguson seems like Midas at this level, with everything turning to gold.
“This year has been super-consistent, which was why Worlds was a little bit scary for me because I knew that I was the big favourite, and it was my race to lose almost,” she explained. It wasn’t her race to lose though, it was her race to win.
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