Tasmania’s record representation at the UCI Road World Championships have given brutally honest assessments of their contrasting experiences in Montréal.
While Felicity Wilson-Haffenden was able to share the emotions of claiming a third world title at the age of just 21, fellow Tasmanians Georgia Baker, Annie Kleywegt and Oliver Sims reflected on frustrating campaigns with the Australian Cycling Team.
Wilson-Haffenden’s hectic schedule began with a dominant victory in 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. She then helped Australia to a fourth place finish in the mixed relay before playing a key team role in the under-23 road race.
“Montréal was above what I could’ve imagined,” Wilson-Haffenden told the Tasmanian Institute of Sport.
“It was the goal to win there but to achieve it and then also deliver strong performances in the team time trial and road race as well as announce my new contract for next year culminated in one very positive but emotionally-demanding week.
“I can look back feeling very proud of the way I handled such high expectations for the time trial and was able to continue to focus on my other events after completing my main goal so early in the program.”
Glendevie’s reigning elite national time trial champion said she was proud of the role she played in the 134-kilometre road race.
“My goal was to make the race hard for our climbers. I hoped there might be an opportunity to go up the road early but considering my success in the time trial, I was marked a bit too heavily for this, so instead I enjoyed riding aggressively without the pressure of a result.
“In hindsight, perhaps I should’ve been more confident in my climbing ability late in the race and conserved to try to fight for a result, but I am proud of the job I delivered for my teammates.”
Wilson-Haffenden said she was aware of the strong Tasmanian contingent in Canada, and particularly grateful to have teammate Baker and TIS head cycling coach Matthew Gilmore in her corner.
“Having such a large group of Tasmanians at worlds was really special. Having Matt driving the car for my time trial is a moment I will remember forever. I am very fortunate to have familiar faces from Tassie alongside me when competing at international level.
“Standing next to Georgia in the team time trial was also incredible. I always feel so calm lining up next to her and although she was very unlucky with a mechanical in the race, her presence never fails to bring me some extra belief that we can achieve a great result.
“It was also awesome to see Annie in the junior race, coming from the same club (Hobart Wheelers Dirt Devils), it is exciting to see another young talent on the world stage from the southern region.”
Having also announced that she will be joining Women’s WorldTour team Fenix-Premier Tech after three seasons with Lidl-Trek, Wilson-Haffenden added: “The results from Canada give me extra confidence and motivation that I enter the next phase of my career with the ability to make a step up with Fenix.”
Despite celebrating her 32nd birthday on the second day of the championships, Baker had less cause for Canadian celebration, suffering mechanical issues in the team time trial and failing to finish the 180.1km elite road race.
Just a couple of months after her stellar performance in winning four medals at the Commonwealth Games, the Perth rider was battling health issues throughout her world champs campaign and has called time on her 2026 season.
“I’ve been dealing with some illness and fatigue,” Baker explained. “I think it was post-viral fatigue after being sick and I was just not able to give myself the chance to fully recover and get over it, which is what my body really needs at the moment.
“It was a real turning point realising something is really not OK, even though I’ve been battling it for a few months now. It was really noticeable and I had to sit back and really reassess everything.”
Baker revealed she will be pulling out of her final scheduled WTW race with Liv AlUla Jayco for the season and would not contest October’s UCI Track World Championships at China’s Shanghai Chongming Velodrome, having been named in the Australian team alongside Wilson-Haffenden.
“It was a really tough decision particularly as it is the start of the Olympic qualifications and I had another race in Chongming for Jayco which was meant to have been the last one for the year,” she added. “So I’ve had to call my season early which is obviously disappointing because I really would have liked to finish this year off well and strongly, but my body just needs a rest.”
Kleywegt is also reassessing her goals having learned plenty from her maiden world championship titles.
Hobart’s versatile 18-year-old is a state and national mountain bike champion but said she was pleased to branch out and experience world-class competition on the road.
“When I decided that this would be the season to start doing a bit more road alongside mountain bike racing, I had absolutely no idea that I’d be selected for world championships less than a year later, an opportunity that feels surreal and I am incredibly proud to have been given,” she said.
Despite not finishing the 80.4km junior road race, Kleywegt was proud to play her part and is optimistic for the future as she resumes her studies at Hobart College and looks ahead to 2027.
“It was disappointing to be struggling to put down numbers I know I’m more than capable of, and found out when I got home I’d been dealing with an infection during race week,” she said on Instagram.
“But the result didn’t diminish the experience that was representing the Australian colours, the week prior spent with the team, and so many learnings that I’ll be bottling up for the future.
“It’s been a crazy but awesome season, now (it’s) time to reset back home, finish off Year 12 and shift the focus to next season’s goals.”
A knee injury sustained just a few days before forced Sims to withdraw from the 174.2km men’s under-23 road race.
“Gutted would be an understatement,” said the Devonport 20-year-old.
“Not exactly how I planned to spend my first time representing Australia in the green and gold, but nonetheless, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity from the Australian Cycling Team and for all the help and support from the staff.”
Sims, who joined Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team as a trainee earlier this year, added: “Hopefully I’ll be back next year for some redemption.”