GLUSBURN’S Cat Ferguson picked up two silver medals in the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships last weekend in the Czech Republic.

The 16-year-old was runner-up in the junior women’s race on Saturday in Tabor, after a fantastic battle, to follow up her second place in the team relay on Friday.

The South Craven School pupil started the junior women’s race at a good lick, taking second place from the gun with team-mate Imogen Wolff in fifth.

A problem on the opening lap meant that Ferguson dropped back, but she was soon up to third, constantly switching places with leading pair Celia Gery of France and Viktoria Chladonova of Slovakia.

Ferguson took charge on lap two, attacking up the climbs and overcoming obstacles with ease, but Gery and Chladonova were not be shaken off going into the final lap.

The latter tried to force the pace, but Ferguson stuck to her wheel, mounting an attack inside the final 10 minutes as her rivals changed bikes.

Ferguson was still leading going into the vital technical sections, but then Gery went to the front, with Ferguson coming to a halt at the top of the bridge section and struggling to find momentum.

Gery won, with Ferguson five seconds adrift, with Shibden Cycling Club members Wolff, of Wakefield Girls’ High School, and Alice Colling in eighth and 22nd respectively.

Craven Herald: Cat Ferguson, left, on the podium at the junior women’s race in Tabor Cat Ferguson, left, on the podium at the junior women’s race in Tabor (Image: Alex Whitehead/swpix.com)

The team relay was even closer, with Great Britain, in the shape of Cameron Mason, being beaten for gold by France’s Austin Sparfel in a sprint finish.

Zoe Backstedt, who would later go on to win the women’s under-23 race, kept Britain in touch on the first leg, despite being the only female rider on that leg, and handed over to national under-23 champion Corran Carrick-Anderson.

Ferguson started leg three in sixth place and was involved in a four-way battle for fifth with Belgium, Slovakia and Italy, before handing over to debutant Oscar Amey.

The 16-year-old closed the gap to the podium positions to 15 seconds and, after a great ride, handed over to women’s elite rider Anna Kay with a lead of 14 seconds.

France’s Helene Clauzel went to the front and then it was down to Mason to eliminate a seven-second advantage that French junior Sparfel had.

It came down to a sprint finish, with Sparfel winning by inches, leaving Britain with a silver medal for the second straight year.