Felicity Wilson-Haffenden won the junior women’s time trial title at the UCI Road World Championships in Stirling on Thursday.
The Australian completed the 13.5km course in 19:31 to beat British rider Izzy Sharp by 16 seconds at the line. Federica Venturelli of Italy rounded out the podium at 29 seconds back to take the bronze medal, seven seconds up on Ireland's Lucy Benezet Minns.
“As more crossed the line I just gained belief,” Wilson-Haffenden said after the time trial.
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“It’s always a surprise, particularly coming from Australia. I haven’t raced these girls all year – I raced them once last year – so you never know how you’re going to stand up. After crashing out of the road race, I also didn’t get my chance to see how I could go against them but yeah, I’m so happy.
“I’ve been cycling for two and a half years now so I can’t say it’s a dream I’ve had for my whole childhood, but ever since I found out what Worlds was two years ago, it’s something I’ve really wanted.
“I really want a WorldTour ride one day and I want to be winning there, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Wilson-Haffenden’s gold is the first for Australia during the elite World Championships, with her early ride withstanding the challenges from all later finishes throughout the early afternoon.
The 18-year-old – a national junior champion in the time trial and road race – was the eighth woman to set off to start her ride and immediately hit the top of the leaderboards.
She faced a long wait to eventually celebrate her victory but it was Sharp, setting off 11 minutes later, who would come closest to her time. Sharp said later that she didn't feel good on the first hill of the day, 6km into the ride, adding that the cobbled climb to the finish was her most painful experience on the bike.
"I think I got to the top of the first climb and I was pretty smoked – I didn't have the best legs today," she said later. "So, I had to recover on the downhill. With 500 metres to go before I hit the cobbles, I could have finished the race there – we all had the same reactions.
"The last 500 metres I've never been in so much pain in my whole life. I think everyone saw how much I put into it – as soon as I crossed the finish line I think I fell off my bike. You have to save something for the end, we saw that in the U23 men's race yesterday. It's just doing what I could up that final climb."
Aside from Sharp, another British rider, Cat Ferguson, was among the favourites for the win. However, the 17-year-old didn’t end up close to the rainbows in Stirling, passing the mid-race checkpoint at 12 seconds down and then losing time on the climb to the finish at Stirling Castle to finish a minute down in 10th place.
A good day for Australia was cemented by Mackenzie Coupland finishing the race in fifth place at 41 seconds down on her compatriot. US riders Ella Brenneman and Samantha Scott ended the time trial in 28th and 30th places respectively.
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