A hectic schedule encompassing four continents in a month isn’t stopping Felicity Wilson-Haffenden trying to end a hectic year with yet another high.
The tenacious Tasmanian’s maiden elite track world championships will be her third global meet in as many months and, having won gold medals at the previous two, she is determined to continue her phenomenal run of success.
“Every Australian selection is always special,” said the 21-year-old as she prepared to hit the track in Shanghai.
“Now that I have gained a lot of experience internationally across many events and disciplines it is very exciting to experience a new competition and feel butterflies in the stomach like I am a junior at their first world championship.”
Beginning an exhausting 2026 campaign with a national elite individual time trial, Wilson-Haffenden built up to gold medals in the Commonwealth Games team pursuit in Scotland and under-23 individual time trial at the road world champs in Canada.
After a brief visit back to Australia, the Glendevie rider has flown to China where five days of racing begins at the Shanghai Chongming Velodrome next Wednesday and marks the first event of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games qualifying cycle.
“The travel of course takes a toll but I have great support around me with the national team and always leave Australia with a little more energy than I arrive with,” Wilson-Haffenden said.
“The back end of the year has been very heavy and I will admit I am starting to feel the travel and the load, but jumping back on the track bike always brings fresh motivation which I have no doubt will help carry me through China.
“We come with a strong team and carry a lot of momentum from the development over the past year so I expect it to be another great step forward towards Los Angeles.”
Although fellow Tasmanian Georgia Baker has withdrawn due to fatigue, Maeve Plouffe will join an Australian women’s endurance team which also includes Sophie Edwards, Claudia Marcks and Alyssa Polites.
Wilson-Haffenden said the squad will be targeting the team pursuit having ensured Australia extended its perfect record in the event at the Commonwealth Games.
“Losing Georgia is of course disappointing but it is important that she recover well so we can have her back at full strength for next season,” she said.
“The team - bar Georgia - remains the same with the inclusion of Maeve who also has a lot of international experience to bring. I expect we will carry the momentum from Glasgow and hopefully be able to execute a ride similar, if not a bit faster. Technically there are definitely improvements to make which should see us execute a smoother ride with the aim of contending for a podium result.
“I always have high ambitions and aim to be on the top step but I have to be realistic considering the point of the season and load I am carrying. Combining this with the fact that it is still my first track world championship, I would be thrilled if I could come away with a podium result in the team pursuit or individual pursuit.
“Most importantly, I want to continue to build the knowledge bank at international standard so I can keep progressing towards gold medal performances come worlds in 2027 and LA 2028.
“That being said, I am definitely looking forward to a break come the conclusion of competition. It’s been a long year since starting the season in January at road nationals!”
The 2025 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year award finalist is acclimatising to China by racing the Tour of Chongming. It will be her final outing for Women’s WorldTour team Lidl-Trek before switching to Fenix-Premier Tech for the next two seasons.
“The Chongming tour is a good way to get some race intensity prior to hitting the track,” she added. “My style of rider does best with some load in the legs as I am more on the side of a diesel engine that needs to be constantly turned over. It is also the final race I will compete with Lidl-Trek so I hope to depart with a good ride and transfer that energy across to the track.”
Although not joining Wilson-Haffenden in China, Baker is also celebrating joining a new team having signed with CANYON//SRAM until 2028 after six years at Liv Alula Jayco.
“I think I’m most excited by the opportunity for a fresh start and a new challenge,” said Perth’s 32-year-old triple Olympian.
“CANYON//SRAM is a team that I’ve always respected from the outside, and I’m really looking forward to learning from a new group of people and hopefully bringing my own experience to the team as well.”
The team’s performance director Dan Fleeman added: “Georgia brings a very valuable combination of speed, power, versatility and tactical know-how. She has the physical qualities of a sprinter but is also capable of performing in the harder and more technical races.
“Georgia’s versatility is very valuable because it gives us different options depending on how a race develops, and there’s also the potential for her to take her own opportunities when the situation allows.”