Tasmania's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden is on top of the world again, winning the Under-23 Women Individual Time Trial at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal.
On Monday morning (local time), the 21-year-old stormed to a dominant victory for the ARA Australian Cycling Team, winning the race by 28 seconds over the runner-up from the Netherlands.
On the 20.3-kilometre course, Wilson-Haffenden posted a rapid time of 27:40.72, averaging over 44kph to win the gold medal and the rainbow jersey of UCI World Champion.
The young rider from Hobart had started as the pre-race favourite. She executed her plan near-perfectly in windy conditions, emptying the tank on the uphill drag to the finish line.
"This is a really big win for me; to pace something well, it’s something I struggle with," Wilson-Haffenden said.
"To be honest, I did explode myself a little bit on the way out. The tailwind gets you so excited and the you turn and realise you still have legs and they do actually go lactic.
"I really just tried to give everything but not quite over the limit until I hit that corner. And then I saw the rainbows at the top and I went as hard as I could."
Wilson-Haffenden adds a third rainbow jersey to her collection after winning the junior individual time trial at Glasgow 2023 and being part of Australia's mixed relay team time trial in Kigali 2025.
"We all know I came to cycling pretty late. Glasgow, when I won, I was still one year into cycling," she said.
"To sit here now, three years later with already three world titles, I never would have believed it to be honest.
"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, but right now I’m going to be so happy just to sit in my room and have a look at those three tonight.
"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 and execute a ride I can be really proud of on the day, I’m going to be sleeping with it tonight."
The ARA Australian Cycling Team finished with two riders in the top five after Western Australia's Mackenzie Coupland finished in fifth place, just two seconds away from the bronze medal.
Fellow Western Australian Sophia Sammons placed 24th on her UCI World Championships debut.
Results | U23 Women Individual Time Trial
1. Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (AUS) 27:40.72
2. Nienke Vinke (NED) +28.47
3. Luca Vierstraete (BEL) +45/07
5. Mackenzie Coupland (AUS) +46.99
24. Sophia Sammons (AUS) +1:58.18
Photos: SWpix.com