Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Felicity Wilson-Haffenden is being mentioned in the same conversation as Olympic cycling gold medallist Grace Brown after her latest world title.
The Tasmanian Red Devil dominated the under-23 time trial championship in Montreal, winning Australia’s first gold medal at the road cycling worlds.
It was Wilson-Haffenden’s third world title on the road and she was also a member of the team pursuit selection that won gold two months ago at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Her compatriot and Lidl-Trek teammate Amanda Spratt is the latest prominent cycling figure to note that Wilson-Haffenden, 21, is one to watch.
Brown won time trial gold at the Paris Olympics and then the world title in the discipline – the first rider to claim that double in the same year – before retiring at the end of the 2024 season.
“Obviously with the retirement of Grace Brown, she’s definitely someone we can look to in the future, to be a really big time trial star as well,” Spratt told AAP.
“I felt so emotional and happy for her. Especially these last 12 months, she’s really just stepped up that level.
“It’s really cool to see it all come together.”
The redhead from the Hobart Wheelers Dirt Devils cycling club announced herself as a future star when she claimed the junior time trial at the 2023 world road championships, also in Glasgow.
She and Spratt were also in the Australian team that successfully defended their mixed relay world title last year.
In Montreal, Wilson-Haffenden clocked 27 minutes 40.72 seconds over the 20.3km course to beat Dutch rider Nienke Vinke by 28 seconds. Mackenzie Coupland, the reigning Australian road champion, was fifth.
“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,” Wilson-Haffenden said.
“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 … I’m going to be sleeping with it (the rainbow jersey) tonight.”
