'I want to have success as an elite, not just as a junior' - Cat Ferguson on winning four world titles and starting her pro career

The 18-year-old, Cycling Weekly's Female Rider of the Year for 2024, tells Tom Davidson about her ‘perfect season’

Cat Ferguson wearing two gold medals holding up a finger to gesture she is number one
(Image credit: Richard Butcher/Future)

The biggest day of Cat Ferguson’s career so far began with an ungodly helping of rice. 

It was 5am when the 18-year-old’s alarm sounded in Zurich, Switzerland, two hours before the sun was set to rise. At 10am, she would start the junior road race at the UCI World Championships. It was the event Ferguson had thought about every day in the 13 months since she finished runner-up in Glasgow. First, though, under a blanket of darkness, she had to get through her breakfast of champions: a bowl of rice, measured out to six times the recommended portion size. 

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Tom Davidson
Senior News and Features Writer

Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and holds a master's degree in International Journalism, which he passed with distinction. Since 2020, he has been the host of The TT Podcast, offering race analysis and rider interviews.

An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill, and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides. His best result is 28th in a hill-climb competition, albeit out of 40 entrants.

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