'Never the outcome I expected' – Super talent Cat Ferguson heads to Milan-San Remo Women as dark horse after WorldTour podium on debut

The last time a women's peloton raced at Milan-San Remo was in 2005, a year before 18-year-old super talent Cat Ferguson (Movistar) was born. 

However, with the race's revival now less than 24 hours away, the Brit is primed to start as one of the dark horses, fresh off the back of a podium on WorldTour debut. 

"I'm definitely feeling really lucky to be part of this historical return of San Remo, there's barely a big name missing from the start list, other than Anna van der Breggen, I think, so I'm really excited," Ferguson told Cyclingnews, after arriving in Italy for the race on Thursday.  

"I'm feeling privileged to join the sport at this time and have all these opportunities available to me, I know that a year ago, this race obviously wasn't a thing, so I think it's really special. Hopefully, I'll remember this race and moment for the rest of my career."

She's actually suffering from a minor bit of illness, having woken up not feeling 100% on Friday, however, is hopeful that may have cleared up ahead of the start in Genoa.

"I have woken up today like a little bit ill, so I'll see how that goes," she said.

"I'm kind of struggling to breathe, so I hope just a good night's of sleep and hopefully it's gone a bit."

Double junior World Champion Ferguson opened up her WWT road career with Movistar at Trofeo Alfredo Binda last Sunday, some 18 months after she was announced a signing for the future, and she didn't disappoint. 

Only former World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) managed to beat her in the sprint when racing came back together after four brutal hours of action. It's a result that vindicated Movistar's decision to sign her but also one that shocked the Brit, who revealed that it wasn't all rosy before she took third. 

"The race itself was really not one of my best. The whole time before the final sprint, I was really struggling with fuelling, it being four hours, and positioning," Ferguson said.

"It was. really not one that I'm super proud of,  but the final sprint went a lot better than I ever could have thought, during and before the race. It definitely is a big shock, but I'm not putting any pressure on myself in the future to get results like that for now, I think it was almost lucky in the sense."

The roads around Cittiglio in northern Italy were ones that Ferguson knows well, having won the junior version of the race in 2023, however, that step up to WorldTour was certainly felt by the teenager.

"The step up is really challenging because you take a race like Binda and it's not only just double the distance, but obviously, the pace is a lot harder and so much more happens in an elite race," said Ferguson. 

"Junior races are much calmer, you can be at the front and it's nowhere near as challenging mentally as the four hours of the elite race."

Stepping up for Milan-San Remo Women  

Ferguson also revealed that she wasn't even supposed to be racing at the revived one-day Classic, with the call-up only coming a fortnight ago. She's also not sure of her exact role yet but has a good idea of how she may be utilised in a squad featuring Liane Lippert.

"I was actually never meant to do San Remo. They told me maybe two weeks ago that I would race there, and again, I feel just lucky – at 18, it's the first edition, I think it's something really special and really historical," she told Cyclingnews.

"I'm not actually sure [why she was picked late], my shape is good right now, other than my illness right now, so maybe it was that. But there wasn't a specific sort of reason why.

"I don't fully know the team plan yet, but my prediction would be that I'll be given probably a role following moves and positioning. Whatever they tell me to do, whether that be to sprint, I will do that. Whether that is for me to lead it out and give my all before the Poggio, I will also do that. My main motivation is to make them happy and to fulfil that role for them."

Having done a 60km recon with Movistar on Thursday, Ferguson also weighed in on how she feels the women's race may play out, with several possibilities looking plausible on the 156km route.

"Of course, we have to take the men's race as a guide, but we are different to the men's. I think for us, the climbs almost become more [important] climbs than in the men's. I think they will do more damage than they can do in the men's race," said the young Brit.

"I think the group at the finish is definitely going to be a lot smaller than what we've seen in previous men's races like last year. The descents really shocked me, they are a lot more challenging than I thought, and that's in terms of road surface, the corners and everything.

"I know they say it's the hardest race to win but easiest to finish, and 100% I agree with that after doing it. The climbs almost don't seem that difficult, but as a whole, it feels an extremely challenging race to sort of predict the outcome."

Having impressed in the sprint in Binda and beat the likes of Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Letizia Paternoster (Liv Jayco AlUla) to the line, Ferguson can't help but carry some confidence into Saturday's race. However, she isn't getting ahead of herself having only just joined the WorldTour.

"It's difficult to get a result like Binda and not sort of have a little bit of hope going forward," she said.

"For me, it sounds strange, but this year really is not about results. It's about committing to the team and showing them that I'm a rider that is really an asset."

Nonetheless, if racing doesn't completely explode after the Cipressa and Poggio in the women's race, Ferguson is not a rider to underestimate, already showing her capability to sprint after a brutal day in the saddle at Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

"Sprint finishes may come quite naturally to me. Instinctively, I just end up finding my way to the front and end up positioning myself well, naturally," Ferguson said. The whole rest of the race, I was always struggling and having to tell myself, that I needed to move forward.

"But maybe it's because I've had experience sprint finishing before, whereas I've never had experience in a WorldTour bunch before. It's strange to say it becomes easier for me, but it almost does, in a sense."

Despite knowing her abilities, it will still a surprise to go so well in her first-ever Women's WorldTour race.

"It was never the outcome I expected, to come third, like I watched the sprint back and I come into the like final corner quite fast. I think I had a lot more momentum than the other girls and I actually went pretty early in the sprint, earlier than I should have gone probably," she said.

"But I managed to hold off the others and come third, which is something in the race that if you told me I would have finished third after how I was feeling and how everything was going, I would absolutely never have believed that."