The UCI Road World Championships kicked off Saturday in Glasgow with the junior women's road race in which the home team was one of the favorites to win, but a perfectly timed attack by Julie Bego of France left the team fighting for the silver medal.

Kat Ferguson (winner of the junior Tour of Flanders, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and the recent Vizcay Coloreac Nations Cup stage race) won the medal from a small group behind the lone leader, but the chase group some frustration at the lack of cohesion.

Bego attacked with around 20km to go, but it was not on the difficult Montrose Street climb, but on the smaller Eldon Street climb.

"When Julie went, I was pretty badly positioned and I was marking the Italian, but my teammate was marking Julie," Ferguson explained. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep Julie and Julie got away." [There was a group of about 10 of us left and we tried to encourage her to chase. My coach, Emma [Trott], had told me beforehand not to push too hard if it came to this, because I am a good sprinter. So it was left to Awen Roberts and Imogen Wolfe to chase. But it was only GB who was trying to chase and unfortunately it didn't work out."

The race took on the appearance of a war of attrition, with early crashes and a tough pace by the British narrowing the field of 98 starters down to 40 in the lead pack.

Britain's Caris Lloyd went clear with 40km to go and continued to break away for a few kilometers to force the other teams to expend energy.

"One of our tactics was to make the race very difficult," Lloyd said. 'Cat is a great sprinter. So I've always been good on hills, so our goal was to race hard from the start. I felt really good right off the start, but my legs almost died at the end."

Bego gained a dozen seconds in the final few kilometers, but the sheer number of corners on the course and the fact that the corners were slippery due to light rain gave the Frenchman a clear advantage.

"The rain helped Julie. It made it harder to see her and I didn't know how much of a difference it made," Ferguson said, adding, "It seemed like the team did most of the work to get her back."

"Belgium had two, and there were a couple of other contenders for the championship. There were two in Belgium and there were a couple of other potential winners. So we talked to them to encourage them to do their job, but they didn't.

Although his first world championship did not go well, Ferguson looks on the bright side, saying that he will have another chance in 2024.

"When the season started, if someone told me I could finish second here, I would be very happy. We had two wins in the Nations Cup and GB, whether it was me or one of my teammates, came here to win the gold medal. So I'm a little disappointed with the silver medal."

"I felt like I was one of the favorites to win the Nations Cup because I had won two races on a similar course to this one. But pressure gives you adrenaline and helps you. So the first year I felt no pressure.