'Jumping in the deep end of the pool' - The speedy rise of Lidl-Trek's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden

Just a year ago Felicity Wilson-Haffenden was lining up at the Australian Road National Championships to see how she would fare against her rivals in the junior category given she'd now had at least a little time to hone her racing skills after picking up a bike to allay the boredom during the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

It was Wilson-Haffenden's second time racing at the event, but after claiming both the U19 road race and time trial title it became the first time she really started to believe that she may have what it takes to pursue the sport to the top level.

Now just a year later the 18-year-old also has a World Championships time trial title and will be stepping out of the junior ranks at the 2024 Australian Road National Championships to race as a member of one of the world's top teams, Lidl-Trek.

The Tasmanian's first outing as a professional cyclist will be on Thursday, January 4, in the discipline where she holds junior National and Worlds titles, but this year she'll be out on the time trial course with the U23 and elite women. On Sunday January 7 it will be onto the elite/U23 women's road race in Buninyong where Wilson-Haffenden will line up alongside Lidl-Trek's defending Australian National Champion Brodie Chapman, three-time winner Amanda Spratt and Lauretta Hanson, who stood on the podium at the race in 2021. 

The neo-pro's season then continues at the Women's Tour Down Under, which will see Wilson-Haffenden taking on her first Women's WorldTour race in South Australia from January 12-14. 

It will be a big start to what is bound to be another big year so before the racing begins, let's find out a little more about Wilson-Haffenden's rapid rise to the top tier of the cycling world.

Cyclingnews: When did cycling come into your life?

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden: I think I must have been 14, 15 or so and COVID hit, I was playing hockey before that and hockey stopped because of the lockdowns so I was basically just bored and got on my bike. And then the Tasmanian Institute of Sport had talent ID sessions so I went along to that and I must've been all right I guess. 

CN: So it was an accelerated path into cycling, at what point did you decide you were looking at seriously pursuing this?

F W-H: I got the opportunity in 2022 to go on the Australian Junior development trip to Europe for a month and I think that was when I was like, this is cool, this is what I want to do and then I think from Road Nationals in 2023 that's when I realised that maybe I would actually be all right at it. [Ed. - she claimed the junior TT and road race at the event and came second in the criterium, so yeah she was definitely all right at it.]

CN: It sounds like you were always someone who was possibly going to go down a sporting path career-wise?

F W-H: It's always been a big part of my life. I think I've done every sport under the sun nearly – athletics, hockey, soccer and others – but I think cycling is the first one that I really tried to take seriously. For me I think cycling is the one where I saw a career out of it.

CN: You've done a combination of road and track, what made you decide to follow the road pathway?

F W-H: I'm still doing a little bit of track as well with it but road really is where you have a career. Track is Olympic medals and there is some really cool stuff you can do there but in terms of actually making a living out of it, road offers that more and I really enjoy the travel you get with road. 

CN: Did you think you would be able to pursue it as a career so early ... turning pro at 18 is fairly unusual, particularly for an Australian rider? 

F W-H: It's definitely not something I was expecting this year. This time last year I was just excited to have had a guest ride at Inform and be talking about riding for BridgeLane. It's been a crazy 12 months but, no, I definitely wasn't expecting this. I was expecting, to do another year with BridgeLane this year, try and go to Europe for a little stint again. But I guess after Worlds everything just went a bit gangbusters.

CN: Do you feel like that win really propelled the opportunity to grasp that road contract? Were you talking to people before that? 

F W-H: We had had some very small scale discussions before that but because I haven't raced a European season – people don't really get to see the Australian [juniors] as much – but after that race for sure, suddenly people are coming at you from all angles and I was like a kid in a candy shop.

CN: Can you talk a little bit about the process of signing up with Lidl-Trek and how that occurred and why you made that choice?

F W-H: I'm lucky. I'm Tasmanian and Richie [Porte] has obviously ridden with Trek, and knows a lot of people there so he was really good with getting me talking to the right people and just having an actual understanding of how it all runs. But it was nice to have Lauretta [Hanson] and Spratty [Amanda Spratt] and Brodie [Chapman], who all ride there, at Worlds as well. For me it was just gaining understanding from the actual people who ride in the teams of what they were like in order to pick the right one for me. But when they [Lidl-Trek] called me ... my heart was in my throat.

CN: You won't be the only 18 year old starting out with the team this year, was the development process the team has put in place really important to you?

F W-H: That was a big reason why I actually wanted to go there. It's almost like a development team within a WorldTour team. All the opportunities of A WorldTour team with the support of a development team and ... no really big expectations to immediately win races. It's kind of like the perfect scenario. I've got time to find my feet and figure it all out but with all these incredible riders and equipment and people around me.

CN: You've had an incredible run this season from a results perspective – from the National Championships junior road race and time trial titles, Oceania junior ITT win and then of course Worlds. Does that give you a degree of confidence as you head out of the junior ranks?

F W-H: Sure, those results are nice and they give you confidence. I think the thing you can almost take more confidence from is how strong the Australian juniors actually are at the moment. When you are winning races against them and racing toe to toe with them it also gives you a bit of confidence because even in Australia you have to be at a high level, I think. But it's a whole other field next year ... Under 23 isn't so much of a category so it's just like going in with the elite and jumping in the deep end of the pool.

CN: With it being such a big jump, what do you think will be the key to managing that change and how do you feel about what is ahead?

F W-H: I don't know, almost, what to expect. I'm super lucky that there isn't any expectation of me next year. I just sort of get to follow the experienced riders in my team and I think just adjusting to life in Europe is actually going to be the biggest change. And within the peloton, I guess, learning to position yourself and all those things in a big and faster moving peloton will be something really different. But overall it just makes me excited to be honest.

CN: The Australian Road National Championships will be your first race with the new team, I'm guessing the time trial will be a key aim?

F W-H: For sure, I'll look to do well in that. The preparation hasn't been as perfect as I'd like, with a bit of illness and so forth ...but the time trial is something I'm really excited for. I can't wait to test myself, I mean Grace Brown is right there – one of the best in the world – so it's nice to be able to see how you stack up against riders like that.

CN: And then walking into the road race. I mean, you've got the defending Australian champion on your team [Brodie Chapman], a three time winner [Amanda Spratt]. The thought of that must just be incredible?

F W-H: It makes me smile just thinking about it. I'll definitely be on domestique duties and I'm quite okay with that.

CN: And I'm sure it will be nice through the Australian summer racing to have a home introduction to life within the team, but I believe you have already had some interaction?

F W-H: Yeah. We spent a week in America at a team bonding kind of camp and that was so cool. It felt like walking into a completely different world really.

CN: Did you feel a little bit like you had to pinch yourself at times looking around at all the amazing riders around you?

F W-H: Yeah, I was rooming with Elisa Longo Borghini and oh, I nearly had a panic attack when I saw that come through. She was just such a nice person but I was just like 'oh, my goodness'.

CN: Looking at the bigger picture long term cycling goals, what type of rider do you see yourself turning into? What are the key races you look at and think, one day I want to win that?

F W-H: The top of the dream board is Paris-Roubaix. I think probably I will be more of a one day rider. Maybe a domestique in the tours and then I'd really like to explore time trials a bit more too. The time trail bike is probably my favourite thing to train on.

CN: This year was a big one to look back on, what type of year do you hope you'll be looking back on at the end of 2024?

F W-H: I just hope that I've set up a good base for myself. Made some good friends, got some good experiences and I'm looking forward to being comfortable saying that I'm a professional cyclist. It feels surreal now, so I'm hoping by next year it might feel a little bit more natural.

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