GRANT FERGUSON could barely have timed his career any better. Already, Scotland’s top cross-country mountain biker has competed at a major championship on home soil at Glasgow 2014 and he will have another chance this summer, with the Mountain Bike European Championships a part of Glasgow 2018, which comes to the city in August.

Ferguson has established himself as the most promising male cross-country mountain biker, winning the British Championships an impressive five times to add to an impressive junior career.

And while Ferguson is quick to stress just how tough the competition will be at Glasgow 2108, with the mountain biking returning to Cathkin Braes Country Park having also being held there at Glasgow 2014.

“To have another major event here so soon after Glasgow 2014 is great and to be selected is definitely one of my main targets for the summer,” the 24-year-old said at Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Park, where the event will be held.

“The very best riders in the world will be racing, which is so exciting. Europe is a strong, dominant area so the European Championships will bring out some of the very best guys in the sport. I’m really looking forward to going up against them.”

But Ferguson has the advantage of knowing the Glasgow trails almost as well as the back of his hand and he is optimistic that home advantage will give him a slight edge over his rivals.

“We did a lot of preparation here for Glasgow 2014 and we’ve also had a couple of British Championships here since then too,” said Ferguson, who finished fifth at Glasgow 2014.

“So I’ve got quite a lot of practice on it. Once you get to know a trail, you start finding faster lines and you work out how you’re going to race on the day so it’s a big advantage to know a trail well. When you know it well, you learn about the different bits of the track and you learn where you can rest and recovery and where the harder parts are.

“I’ve had quite a few good races here and done well so that does help my confidence.”

And Ferguson has medal pedigree at the European Championships having won medals at both the junior and the under-23 Europeans in previous years. While the step up to the senior ranks is notoriously tricky, Ferguson has managed it impressively, performing well on the World Cup circuit, which gives him the confidence that, if all goes well on the day at Glasgow 2018, he could get his hands on some silverware.

“A medal is the goal,” he said.

“In mountain biking, you’re aware that things can go wrong because there’s just so many variables. I do always go in with a plan of how I want to race and what I want to achieve though. You line up with that mindset and that’s what you try and do but there’ll be 100 guys beside me who are also thinking the same.

“But I feel like if everything goes my way on the day, I could get on the podium - that’s the goal anyway. After my oterh European medals, I’d be hoping to add elite at some point and I’ll try and do it this year. It’ll definitely be tough though so I’ll just concentrate on riding as well as I can and hopefully, I’ll get a result.”

Ferguson has added incentive to do well in Glasgow as he did not ride as he would have liked at Gold Coast 2018 last month. A ninth-place finish was solid but for someone who had the ability to medal had all gone well on the day, he left Australia somewhat downbeat.

But he is experienced enough to know that it is often the disappointing performances that give the best opportunities from which to learn.

“I was a bit disappointed with my performance in Gold Coast so a good ride in Glasgow would hopefully make up a little bit for that result,” he said.

“I’m still trying to work out exactly what went wrong in Gold Coast. I think that tactically, I raced the race wrong and made a few mistakes. So I just need to try to learn for big events in the future and make sure I don’t do that again.

“After Gold Coast, I was quite down but because the Games were early in the year so I was straight back in to the World Cup season with my team - I didn’t have time to dwell on things too much. There’s a lot of races throughout the summer so I had to just get on with things.

“There was no option other than getting straight back on my bike so I think that was helpful for me and now, I’m just looking towards Glasgow.”