Australia's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden admitted she made one 'big pacing error' that probably cost her a medal in the under-23 women's time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, with the 20-year-old admitting she blew up on the final Côte de Kimihurura cobbled climb.
The 2023 Junior world champion was second fastest at both intermediate time checks but slipped to fourth at the finish line. She was 2:21 down on new world champion Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) but only 11 seconds slower than third-placed Federica Venturelli (Italy) and 31 seconds slower than Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia).
"I felt really good in the beginning, but quite clearly, I made a big pacing error. When I hit the cobbles, I got stuck and couldn't find the gear again," Wilson-Haffenden told Eurosport in the post-race mixed zone.
"Right now, I'm quite heartbroken with the result, but I can be really proud of 95% of this race and just made one small error. I have two more years, so for sure next year I'll be back to do it correctly."
Wilson-Haffenden rides for the Lidl-Trek WorldTour team and opted to use a 1x single-speed chainring, limiting her lower gear options.
"It's something I need to go back and look at and see if I made the right choice to run a single ring. In hindsight, maybe with the explosion I had, it was the wrong choice," she admitted.
"I came to win, sent my bike up to win, and raced to win. But in the end, I just fell short."
Wilson-Haffenden showed her maturity and talent by the way she dealt with her disappointment. At just 20, she has more years ahead of her to return and compete in the newly created under-23 world title.
"I did the first 20km perfectly, as I wanted. In the last two kilometres, I fell at the final hurdle," she said.
"For sure, I take confidence from the fact I'm there and I'm strong. Next time I'll look to make one less error."
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