IF timing is everything in sport then Grant Ferguson could not have judged his any better. Last weekend, the 21-year-old claimed his first ever World Cup cross-country mountain biking victory when he won the under-23 race in Val di Sole, Italy. With the U-23 World Championships beginning in Vallnord, Andorra today, he has hit form at exactly the right time. The first victory is always the toughest to achieve and Ferguson is understandably relieved to have that monkey off his back. “I’m really pleased to get my first World Cup win after so many years of trying,” he says. “And I’m excited to go to the worlds now with the aim of doing the best I can.”
Last month, Ferguson, who is from Peebles, won silver at the U-23 European Championships in what was his first podium finish of the season. That performance, coupled with his recent World Cup victory, suggests that a World Championship medal this week is within reach but the Scot is reluctant to make any grand declarations of intent. “I finished fifth at the worlds last year so I’d like to improve on that,” he says. “But really, I’m just looking to do my best. I’ve got a few targets in my mind but I’m not really sure how it will go so I think I’d rather just wait and see rather than make any predictions.”
Indeed the nature of mountain biking means that results do not always reflect form; there are so many variables that it makes for an unpredictable sport. Ferguson knows only too well that the stars must align if he is to come home with any silverware. “You can get yourself in great shape to do well fitness-wise but then you could go out in lap one with a puncture – mountain biking is like that,” he explains. “A few years ago, I went to the Worlds in really good shape and then I snapped my chain 10 meters into the race and that’s you. You can prepare your body and your equipment the best you can but if it doesn’t go your way on the day then there’s not a lot you can do – it’s just part of the sport. It does play with your mind a bit but you can’t let yourself think about it too much.”
The World Championship course in Vallnord is at 2000 metres altitude and so Ferguson has been training in Italy at 1900m in preparation for the biggest event of his season. He admits that the altitude and the issues that brings took a little bit of getting used to. “In Italy, we were pretty close to the altitude that we’re going to be at when we’re racing at the Worlds so that’s helped,” he says. “When I first got up there, I was getting out of breath really, really quickly but you do slowly get used to it. I’ll hopefully see some longer-term benefits when I get back down to sea-level too.”
Ferguson is one of the few riders who competes in a number of disciplines – as well as being a mountain biker, he also rides cyclo-cross and on the road. At Glasgow 2014, as well as competing in the mountain biking, in which he finished a creditable fifth, Ferguson was part of the road team and was there to support Scotland’s most likely medal contenders, David Millar and Andy Fenn. Mountain biking remains Ferguson’s primary focus though and with the week’s World Championships his last race in the U-23 category, the step up to Elite level is an imminent and slightly daunting prospect. “It’s only in the World Cups that I’ve been racing in the under-23s, the other races in Europe I race in the seniors so I have got a bit of experience at racing in Elite,” he says. “So in general, I’m not too scared about it but I think the step up in level from U-23 World Cups to Elites will be quite a big jump so I’m a little bit nervous about that. It’s also a really exciting prospect though.”
Ferguson is part of the GB programme and admits that qualifying for the Olympic Games next summer is in his thoughts. “I am thinking about Rio but it’s a very tough process to qualify,” he says. “You spend two years scoring points to qualify a British mountain biker and then nearer the time, they will pick who goes.” There is still a long way to go before anyone is given a seat on the plane to Rio but for Ferguson, a first World Championship medal this week would be a timely boost.
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