Cat Ferguson will miss the 2026 Tour de France Femmes after further medical checks revealed two fractures in her ankle following her crash on the opening stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia Women.
Movistar confirmed that the British rider had initially undergone tests to assess a possible traumatic brain injury and multiple contusions after the Giro crash. Although Ferguson showed progressive signs of recovery after returning home, her clinical evolution did not meet expectations over the following three weeks. Further diagnostic studies then revealed the ankle fractures.
The news rules Ferguson out of both the upcoming National Championships and the Tour de France Femmes, cutting into what had been a standout second season with Movistar.
Photo Credit: GettyAnkle fractures found weeks after Giro crash
Ferguson crashed on stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia Women, bringing her debut at the Italian Grand Tour to an early end before the race had properly opened up for her.
At the time, the immediate concern centred on the force of the crash and the need to assess possible head trauma and other impact injuries. Movistar have now clarified that the first round of checks focused on a possible traumatic brain injury and multiple contusions, before Ferguson returned home to continue her recovery.
The problem was that her recovery did not progress as expected. That led to further examinations, which revealed two fractures in her ankle. The discovery changes the picture around the crash. What had initially looked like a difficult but relatively short-term recovery has now become a longer spell away from racing.
Ferguson will need several weeks of recovery to allow the fractures to heal properly, as well as time for the other injuries from the crash to settle. Movistar confirmed that means she will not compete at the National Championships or the Tour de France Femmes.
Tour de France Femmes absence is a major setback
Missing the Tour de France Femmes is a significant blow because Ferguson had been building towards the biggest stage races with real momentum. The Giro was meant to be another step in that process, with sprint opportunities available and Movistar using her as one of its key cards for the faster stages.
Instead, her Giro ended on the opening day, and the delayed discovery of the ankle fractures now removes her from the next major target as well.
That is particularly frustrating because Ferguson’s 2026 season had already shown how quickly she was progressing. She had not simply been collecting experience in her second season with Movistar. She had been winning races, taking responsibility and showing that she could be relevant in very different race situations.
For Movistar, the loss is also important. Ferguson gives the team speed, versatility and a finishing option on days that are too hard for pure sprinters but not selective enough for climbers alone. Those qualities would have been valuable at the Tour de France Femmes, where stage opportunities often depend on surviving repeated climbs, positioning well and still being fast at the end.
Three wins underline her 2026 leap
Ferguson’s season had started with immediate impact. She won the Trofeo Llucmajor in Mallorca, giving Movistar an early victory and showing that her speed had carried strongly into the new campaign.
She followed that with a stage win at the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, attacking late and holding off the reduced bunch in Vila-Real. That win was another sign of her range: not just a straight-line sprinter, but a rider able to read a finale, move before the obvious sprint and still finish the job.
Her third victory came at the Navarra Women’s Elite Classic, where she won from a small group in Pamplona. That result was arguably the clearest sign of her development, because the race had been shaped by difficult terrain, attrition and late pressure before Ferguson still had the speed to finish it off.
Those three wins made her one of Movistar’s standout performers of the first half of the season and one of the clearest British success stories in the Women’s WorldTour.
A season of promise interrupted by injuries
The ankle fractures now add a painful interruption to a year that had been moving in the right direction. Ferguson had already shown strong form across early-season racing, with her victories in Mallorca, Valencia and Navarra backed up by a more ambitious racing role.
There had also been signs of progress in the Classics. She produced one of her strongest cobbled performances at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, while harder days at races such as Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix were part of the learning curve for a young rider still adapting to the full demands of the elite calendar.
The Giro was supposed to be the next stage in that development. Ferguson had been looking towards sprint stages and a longer Grand Tour test after already gaining major stage-race experience earlier in her career. Instead, the crash ended that opportunity almost immediately.
The delayed ankle diagnosis makes the setback more complicated. Ferguson had been recovering from the initial impact of the crash, but the continued concern around her progress showed that something still was not right. The later scans have now explained why.
Recovery now comes before racing plans
Ferguson’s absence from the National Championships and 2026 Tour de France Femmes removes two major targets from her summer. The immediate priority is now proper healing rather than trying to rescue a race programme.
That is the right approach for a rider at this stage of her career. Ferguson is still only 20 and has already shown enough in 2026 to confirm the direction of travel. The three victories, the growing responsibility at Movistar and the way she has adapted to different race types all point towards a rider with a high ceiling.
The frustration is that the injury arrives just as she was pushing further into the biggest races. Her Tour de France Femmes opportunity will have to wait, and her National Championships campaign is gone as well.
For now, the focus shifts to recovery. The first half of Ferguson’s season showed how far she has come. The next task is making sure the Giro crash does not interrupt that progress for longer than necessary.
