"I really fell in love with the team’s values" - Cat Ferguson explains her choice to sign up for Movistar on a long-term deal

It’s not surprising that the talented 17-year-old Cat Ferguson has been quickly snapped up by a WorldTour outfit, signing a three-year contract with Movistar which will begin when Ferguson joins them as a stagiaire at the end of August next year. Having said goobye to its star rider Annemiek van Vleuten, investments into future, such as Ferguson, should ensure bright days to come for the Spanish team.

"I’m a little bit frustrated," Ferguson replies when Rouleur asked her to reflect on the road season she’s just finished. "I won a couple of big races and I'm pleased with that but then in lots of the Championship races, I always just seemed to come second. Next year I want to come out on top in those races."

"I won Binda, the very first international race on the calendar for the junior girls, in about April and from there a couple of teams were interested in me," Ferguson explains. "Later in the season I won Flanders and that got Movistar interested. They felt friendly compared to the other teams and I enjoyed speaking to them so it went from there. They gave me a road bike and I really fell in love with the team’s values I’m going on a training camp with them in January and I’m really excited."

"I feel incredibly blessed to be entering the sport at this time," Ferguson said. "I'm so grateful to people such as Lizzie who have made it possible for younger athletes to call cycling a profession – effectively making a profit, because that is what defines a professional athlete. But it’s not even just the salary it's other things such as maternity leave, people like Laura Kenny and Lizzie Deignan have just made it so much more normalised. I'm so grateful to people like them."