Cat Ferguson will not make her much-anticipated Tour de France Femmes debut this summer because of injuries, her team said in a press release on Tuesday.
Movistar reported that due to a bad crash in the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women, Ferguson had suffered a previously undetected double fracture in one of her ankles.
Initial tests did not reveal the injuries and early reports were optimistic. But despite her recovery over the following weeks, her long-term return to health was not progressing as it should and further checkups revealed the injuries.
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"Cat will need various weeks of recovery to ensure the bones heal correctly along with her other injuries," Movistar said in a press release.
"As a result, she will not be able to participate in the upcoming National Championships, nor in the Tour de France."
The setback for the team and rider means Ferguson, 20, will not be able to take part in her first Tour de France Femmes, which runs from August 1 to 9.
So far in Grand Tours, she has ridden La Vuelta Femenina last year, finishing 64th, before heading to the Giro this May.
In the Nationals, Ferguson is both a Junior TT and Road Race Champion, and she also claimed fifth in the U23 time trial last year and seventh in the senior road race.
Despite an uneven series of performances in the Classics, with a fourth place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad followed by illness, a puncture and crashes at Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Ferguson has won three races so far this year.
Her triumphs include a one-day race at the Mallorca Challenge, a stage of the Volta de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Navarra Women's Elite Classic.
In the upcoming Tour de France Femmes, it was thought she would play a key support role for teammate Marlen Reusser, the recent Tour de Suisse winner and one of the key GC contenders.
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