Interview Ella Wyllie

2022 has been an important year for Ella Wyllie. She started her season on home soil in her Oceania and made it to Europe over the Summer. The experience that she gained there made her able to be one of the best U23 riders at the Worlds, back again Down Under. The 20 years old Kiwi combines road and track cycling and is ambitious on both terrains. In this interviews she tells about racing in the early morning, winning one of the most beautiful jerseys in the peloton and her Olympic dream. Get to know one of the faces of a new generation coming from Down Under.

At the Wollongong Worlds, it was your first time racing among the best in the world. How did it feel to you?

It was an awesome experience. I did race at the 2019 Road Worlds in Harrogate as a first year U19, but I was quite nervous then and everything was new! This time I was able to properly appreciate it and it was much better racing with the elite riders on a great course. I’m grateful to Cycling NZ for the opportunity to represent my country. The crowds were so good, especially motivating up Mt Pleasant. It felt like a home world championship.

You came to Europe for the first time in your career. How did you experience it?

I really enjoyed it! The racing was stimulating and I learnt a lot very quickly. I liked having a lot of racing as there wasn’t much in New Zealand since the Covid pandemic started. I stayed at the team house and all my teammates made me feel so welcome and helped make the move to a different country so much easier.

 

Before you were racing in your Oceania. What is the difference in terms of racing between these continents?

For me one of the biggest differences was the length of racing. A lot of the racing I’ve done in NZ / Australia has been around the 100km distance but in Europe it would be closer to 130-150km. I had to think more about eating and drinking to make sure I still felt good for the final, especially with high temperatures (some races in France were 40 degrees!).

Even racing a lot later in the day was something I had to adjust to. Most races in Europe were 12pm - 3pm which means you have to think about general fuelling before the race more as you race over lunch time. In NZ I’d usually race 8am-10am. The Oceania Championships this year started at 6am!

 

You became Oceanian U23 champion this year. Do you enjoy training in the most beautiful continental jersey in the world?

It’s a nice looking jersey! I was only able to race in it at the Watersley Women’s Challenge since it was purely an U23 tour, but I still felt very privileged to be able to wear a Continental jersey. Hopefully I’ll defend it next year!

 

Do you dream of going to the Olympics in 2024 after your first selection for the Worlds this year?

Yes it is definitely a goal of mine, ever since I was a kid I have wanted to go to the Olympics!

 

 

Will you still do some track racing in the last months of the year?

I would like to! New Zealand has our Omnium and Madison national championships in December so I’d like to do that.

 

What are your ambitions for 2023?

I would really like to get stronger and work with my teammates to secure wins. I am keen to do stage races and building up to something like the Tour de France, Giro or Vuelta would be cool.