Ally Wollaston takes three wins at Track Nations Cup

Ally Wollaston continued her successful start of the season on the cycling track in Jakarta, Indonesia at the first UCI Track Nation Cup of the season. With the New Zealand national team Ally won the team pursuit event which gives the country valuable points towards the qualification for Paris2024. Ally and her colleagues Michaela Drummond, Bryony Botha and Emily Shearman qualified as fastest team in 4 minutes and ten seconds. In the first round they beat Australia with another 4.10.

In finals they faced France who started faster but by only two tenths of a second. In the second kilometer New Zealand took the lead and after four kilometers there was 4.08 on the clock, four seconds faster than France. It was a new national record.

After the team pursuit Ally lined up for the elimination race. This is not an Olympic event but it’s a great race to test the leg speed and play tactical games. After almost 20 eliminations Ally was left on the track with British rider Neah Evans to go for gold in a sprint a deux. Her sprinter legs that already led to her first win of the year on January 14th, were there yet again and she sped to the gold medal.

On the final day Ally lines up for the Olympic omnium event. She won three of the four events and came second in the tempo race. It resulted in an almost perfect score of 158 points. 

"This week of racing in Jakarta really exceeded all expectations," Ally reacted. "I knew following the road national championships that I was fit and in good shape, but to come away with three golds was pretty amazing. I’m beyond proud of our teams pursuit where we broke a national record. As a team we haven’t had a smooth run in the slightest so to come together on the day and put down a performance like that is really exciting.

The win in the omnium was a huge confidence boost for me. I’ve previously struggled with confidence in bunch racing, but I backed myself and trusted my race instinct which is something im really proud of. It’s a great stepping stone for the upcoming months with bigger goals in mind such as worlds and Paris 2024."