British super-talent Cat Ferguson continued her stunning run of form with victory at Binche-Chimay-Binche pour Dames, taking her second win as a professional and first since becoming junior time trial and road race world champion in Zürich.
Ferguson, 18, who is still riding as a stagiaire in just her fourth race for Movistar, was led out perfectly by Emma Norsgaard who kept the pace high in the final until her young teammate launched.
The Brit quickly distanced Charlotte Kool after the top sprinter suffered a late mechanical and easily sprinted to the victory ahead of Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility).
"It's incredible, I'm here just to learn, I'm still a junior, I'm still a stagiaire and this is totally not what I expected at the front of the race so it's really surreal," said Ferguson post-race.
"I'm so grateful to the girls because I'm new and they are so welcoming and accommodating and they help me so much to learn.
"I hope to just continue how I'm doing now - if I can keep on the progression that I'm going on at the minute then I think I can achieve great things but the next three years are just about adapting to the new category and learning from the girls around me."
The 117km race from Chimay to Binche was all about the closing circuit in Binche, which featured two short cobbled sectors tackled three times apiece plus a 3.2km, 2.3% hill, tackled twice.
Several breakaway attempts were made during the opening 70km, including a solo move from Karolina Perekitko (Winspace). The Polish racer was brought back with 50km still to run, however.
Uno-X Mobility controlled the pace at the head of the peloton on the way towards the closing circuits before Jeanne Korevaar (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) put in the first major attack.
She was soon caught and passed by Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) and Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels), with the pair pushing on alone and racing into the final kilometres. With 2km to go, only 10 seconds separated them and the peloton, and it was DSM-Firmenich PostNL who brought them back for good just inside the final kilometre.
Movistar were next to take over the pacemaking, with Ferguson lying behind Emma Norsgaard in the lead-out train. DSM's Charlotte Kool was also in prime position for the sprint, though a slip from the pedals at an inopportune moment saw her chances in the sprint all but disappear.
Ferguson took advantage of the situation and hit the front, holding off charges from Schweinberger and Ahtosalo to secure the win as Kool finished a place back in fourth.
Results
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