Rider Chat: Grant Ferguson

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Third in the Under 23 World Championship Mountain Bike title in 2015, Grant Ferguson from Scotland was a surprise name on the Pedal Heaven roster…

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Rider Chat: Grant Ferguson

Third in the Under 23 World Championship Mountain Bike title in 2015, Grant Ferguson from Scotland was a surprise name on the Pedal Heaven roster so VeloUK had a quick chat with him prior to the Perfs Pedal recently.

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Grant giving it some at the front during the Perfs Pedal

In that race, Grant was seen a lot on the front and making breaks, demonstrating what a World Class rider he is. But with mountain biking being his main focus, we don’t see a lot of him on the roads of Britain.

Grant explained how, because the sport is so massive in Europe, he’s made a good career in mountain biking. With the sport huge in places like France and Switzerland where crowds of 20,000 at World Cups is common, the sport of MTB holds a lot of attraction for young riders like Grant who’s just 22.

Looking back at 2015, Grant explained “I was pleased with last year which was tough early on. I worked really hard at the start of the year and then winning the World Cup (Under 23) really set me up for the Worlds. Getting the medal made the second half of the year pretty mint really.”

In all, Grant won three major medals in 2015, Gold (World Cup), Silver (Euros) and Bronze (Worlds) in 2015..

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Grant explained how his season will work riding for two teams. “When I am racing off road; MTB and cross, I’m riding for a Dutch team and then when I do the road to get some racing, I am racing for Pedal Heaven.”

“I have raced on the road for Scotland (Commonwealth Games) and also for GB with the academy squad, so I have done a fair bit on the road. I just love racing my bike whether it’s on the road, mountain biking or cyclo-cross”.

“My main focus is mountain biking but I like to race lots of different disciplines.”

His form at the Perfs looked good despite being a little under the weather with a cold and he says he’s done a lot of training and been away in the sun to prepare for a big big season. “The winter was good for me. The ‘cross nationals were a big day out with a lot of running and I think I’m pretty fit.”

Grant is now probably some where nice and warm at a training camp for his mountain bike team and says there may be some road races in March ahead of a busy year. “I’m going to be looking to score points to qualify for the Rio Olympics so that will be quite a focus”.

“I am working hard to be there as it’s a massive thing and I just need to be as fit as I can be and race as hard as I can to try and get selection.”

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