Great Britain’s Grant Ferguson took his best-ever finish at under-23 level at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, with fifth in cross-country on Friday in Hafjell, Norway.

Earlier Great Britain’s Alice Barnes also produced an impressive ride in the women’s under-23 race, taking seventh in her first year in the category.

Ferguson rallied from seventh with one lap to go, despite suffering from a faulty pedal, to break into the top five at the line, topping a stellar year for the Peebles man, who took three world cup podiums and the British elite title on the way to the season finale in Norway.

The result was Ferguson’s best result at world championships since taking fourth place in the junior men’s event in Champery, Switzerland back in 2011.

Ferguson’s teammate Iain Paton finished 47th in his first year racing in the under-23 category, despite having the visit the pits on lap two for a rear wheel change.

The world title went to the Netherlands’ Michiel van der Heijden ahead of Jordan Sarrou of France and Howard Grotts of the USA.

Following the race, Ferguson explained that he could have been in medal contention had it not been for a persistent pedal problem that dogged his efforts throughout.

"I had a couple of moments early in the race when I gave away a bit too much time and I was having to pay for it,” said Ferguson.

"To be fifth in the world is quite cool but my personal goal was that I wanted to try to get a medal in this race and try and race it from the front.

"I'd say I'm satisfied at being fifth in the world but definitely for the future I'll look to improve upon that.

"I've got a lot of ideas on how to improve next year so I can race as I want to race, from the front."

At the start New Zealand’s Sam Gaze and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anton Cooper took a flyer, leaving the trio of Sarrou, van der Heijden and Ferguson nine seconds adrift at the first split.

But Cooper had dropped to fourth at the end of the first of six laps and a mistake on the descent left Ferguson a few seconds further back in fifth, while Paton had moved up to 42nd from his grid position of 50th.

It wasn’t long before UCI World Cup winner Sarrou showed his hand, taking the lead halfway through lap two while Ferguson had passed the fading Cooper and moved into fourth, ten seconds behind the leading trio.

Into the third lap and Ferguson had dropped to fifth behind Czech rider Jan Vastl as up ahead, Gaze had retaken the lead for New Zealand. Behind Paton continued a solid ride, starting lap three in 46th position.

With half the race run, Ferguson held fifth, 49 seconds behind van der Heijden who began to sow the seeds of victory, the Dutchman edging away from throughout lap four and not looking back.

As the fifth lap beckoned Ferguson had dropped to sixth place, passed by a recovering Cooper, the British champion now around 50 seconds adrift of a podium position.

By the end of lap five Ferguson had dropped to seventh behind a late-charging Grotts, while up ahead van der Heijden extended his lead to 47 seconds.

But a strong last lap for Ferguson saw him cross the line in fifth, one minute and 39 seconds behind van der Heijden, the 20-year-old’s best world championships result at under-23, having finished 32nd in both 2012 and 2013.

Under-23 women

Earlier Alice Barnes produced another superb ride for Great Britain, the first-year under-23 finishing seventh in the under-23 women’s cross-country.

Barnes put in a storming first lap to gain ten places on her starting position and measured her effort to perfection in the closing stages when those around her began to crack, while teammate Beth Crumpton completed a Great Britain top twenty double in 17th, recovering from crash on the first lap.

Switzerland’s Yolanda Neff retained her world title ahead of France’s Margot Moschetti and Switzerland’s Linda Indergand.

"I was really excited to be in that position at world champs as a first-year under-23", said Barnes, who didn't let the occasion go to her head.

"I knew I had to wait a bit and take on the first climb and gain as many places as I could into the first singletrack.

"I put myself into a good position and kept picking the riders off through the whole race.

"You've got to carry on just riding your race,” she continued. “You can't focus on who you're around because if you follow a really good climber then when you get to the top you’re just going to nail yourself.

"You've got to ride your own race but use the wheels when you can."

Barnes had a strong start, moving from 21st on the grid to 11th at the first checkpoint, one minute and two seconds behind Neff. However Crumpton, who started from 22nd, fell victim to a big pileup at the foot of the first climb and passed through the first split in 24th, one minute and 50 seconds down.

At the end of lap one Barnes had climbed to tenth while a minute later, Crumpton came through the finish arena in 19th position, the 20-year-old beginning to find clear track to ahead.

Up ahead, elite world cup winner Neff began to slowly eke out a lead that would take her to the finish, the 2013 world champion eventually winning by one minute and 47 seconds.

As the race entered its third of five laps, Barnes had climbed to ninth, two minutes and 54 seconds behind Neff, while Crumpton continued to squeeze the accelerator, moving up to 15th.

But a lap later Crumpton had slipped to 18th while Barnes held onto tenth as the race approached its closing stages.

As riders around her began to tire, Barnes kept her tempo, crossing the line to take the bell in seventh, a position she would hold to the end, a superb result for the first-year under-23 who missed much of the 2014 season after breaking her collarbone in February.

Earlier in the day saw the junior downhill seeding runs, with Great Britain’s Taylor Vernon qualifying second in a time of 3.36.137, three and a half seconds behind fastest man Loris Vergier of France.

Laurie Greenland was sixth, with Neil Stewart eighth and Drew Carters 22nd.

Action continues in Norway on Saturday with Great Britain’s Annie Last competing in the elite women’s cross-country. The race will be streamed live on Red Bull TV with reports and reaction on the British Cycling website.

Results

Under-23 women's cross-country
Under-23 men's cross-country
Junior men's downill seeding