Tasmania's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden has conquered the cycling world for a third time, claiming another rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal.
The 21-year-old dominated the women’s under-23 individual time trial, adding to her previous gold medals in the same event as a junior in 2023 and last year’s mixed relay team time trial.
The pre-race favourite perfectly executed her plan in windy conditions on the 20.3-kilometre course, emptying the tank on the uphill drag to the finish to win by 28 seconds.
“I can be pretty happy with that,” Wilson-Haffenden said.
“When I was a junior, I was unknown, no-one knew who I was and it was an incredible experience. The mixed relay last year was as a team and was a lot of fun and this year is really the first time I’ve experienced being the favourite for something. It was a lot of pressure both internally and externally and to actually put it all together and execute a ride I can be really proud of on the day … I’m going to be sleeping with it tonight!”
The Glendevie talent, who also won a Commonwealth Games team pursuit gold medal in July, posted a time of 27:40.72, averaging more than 44kph, to overtake Nienke Vinke, of the Netherlands (+28.47), with Belgian Luca Vierstraete (+45.07) claiming the bronze medal.
The victory completed a stunning 24 hours for Wilson-Haffenden who had earlier been named in the Australian team for the UCI Track World Championships at China’s Shanghai Chongming Velodrome in October.
“This is a really big win for me; to pace something well, it’s something I struggle with," she added. “To be honest, I did explode myself a little bit on the way out. The tailwind gets you so excited and then you turn and realise you still have legs and they do actually go lactic.
“It was about getting through the corners safely with a lot of speed and then trusting my legs on the long straight parts. It was about really conserving, trying to be diligent on the way out and then slowly build it all the way into that final kick to the line.
“On the way home I was just fighting with everything I had and really picking the moments where I could put time in and the moments where I could conserve.
“I really just tried to give everything but not quite over the limit until I hit that corner. And then I saw the rainbows at the top and I went as hard as I could.
“The last drag, it’s so long. You see the finish from the bottom but it’s still like a minute away. My legs were going but my will power was getting me there. I had a bit of a spectacular finish collapse, but this is not unknown to me!”
Reflecting on her meteoric rise in the sport, Wilson-Haffenden said: “We all know I came to cycling pretty late. Glasgow, when I won, I was still one year into cycling. To sit here now, three years later with already three world titles, I never would have believed it to be honest.
“I definitely have my eyes on more in the future. I’m a hungry person and I will say the elite title is something that I do dream of, but right now I’m going to be so happy just to sit in my room and have a look at those three tonight.”
The triple world champion was soon targeting a fourth rainbow jersey as part of the ARA Australian Cycling Team set to defend its title in Tuesday’s 40.6km mixed relay team time trial.
Wilson-Haffenden will team up with fellow Tasmanian Georgia Baker, who celebrated her 32nd birthday on Monday by also being selected for the track world champs, plus Conor Leahy, Michael Matthews, Cameron Rogers and Mackenzie Coupland, who finished fifth in the U23 individual time trial (+46.99).
“My resources might be a bit empty but my adrenaline will be through the roof,” Wilson-Haffenden said as she looked ahead.
“We have a double world championship to defend so I’m sure I’ll be raring to go come tomorrow morning.
“I’m still under-23 so right now I’m just going to enjoy winning this one and I’ll think about the possibility of trying for an elite title in the coming years. I don’t want to rush my development too much, I’m going to be super happy with this and then consider what is the correct step for the future come next year.”
Asked how much she would celebrate her latest gold medal, the Lidl-Trek team member said: “There’ll be a little celebration cake. After tomorrow there’s still the road race, but you can bet your bottom dollar, Thursday night I’ll be letting go.”
Tasmania has a record representation of four cyclists at the UCI Road World Championships with Devonport’s Oliver Sims, 20, and Annie Kleywegt, 18, of Hobart, also named in the Australian team, while Tasmanian Institute of Sport head cycling coach Matthew Gilmore is operating as Australia’s junior coach.