The biggest day of Cat Ferguson’s career so far began with an ungodly helping of rice.
It was 5am when the 18-year-old’s alarm sounded in Zurich, Switzerland, two hours before the sun was set to rise. At 10am, she would start the junior road race at the UCI World Championships. It was the event Ferguson had thought about every day in the 13 months since she finished runner-up in Glasgow. First, though, under a blanket of darkness, she had to get through her breakfast of champions: a bowl of rice, measured out to six times the recommended portion size.
