Ally Wollaston, through highs and lows: the New Zealander is focusing everything on the Track World Championships after a rollercoaster 2026.

New Zealander Ally Wollaston has had a two-faced 2026: three early season victories and a key contribution to her team's victory in a Grand Tour, but also a recent battle to regain top form. The defending Tour of Britain Women champion has bluntly described it as a "mixed bag"—a bit of everything—and a true "rollercoaster," an emotional and performance-related rollercoaster that now, with autumn upon us, she hopes to transform into a more linear trajectory toward her end-of-season goals.

This year, Wollaston will not defend her Tour of Britain Women title. The FDJ United-SUEZ rider instead took on the role of a high-profile domestique, supporting Lauren Dickson on the queen stage up the Great Orme to Llandudno. A different role than usual, but one that nonetheless allowed her to work on building her stamina and confidence in the peloton after a difficult period.

"Personally, it's been a bit of a mix for me. I came into this week feeling a bit uncertain, I was also a bit sick last week, and maybe I haven't done much road racing lately," she told Cyclingnews . "So, trying to get my legs back and gain some confidence in the peloton was my goal this week."

Looking at the bigger picture, Wollaston's season seems far from disappointing: two stages and the points jersey at the Tour Down Under, a second New Zealand national road title, and a title defense at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, becoming the first rider to do so back-to-back. A seventh-place finish at the Milan-San Remo in March, and in May, a key role in helping Demi Vollering win the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia Women. Off the bike, she also graduated with a law degree, and most recently won silver in the team pursuit at the Commonwealth Games, also coming close to bronze in the points race.

"I'd say it's been a bit of a rollercoaster season for me. Nothing has gone drastically wrong, just a slightly below-expected performance so far," Wollaston explained. "I don't want to say it's been a failure. But as an athlete, you always want to be at the top, and unfortunately, that hasn't been the case for me in recent months. I'm confident that after this week of solid racing, my condition will return.

I still have big goals and ambitions for the rest of the season with the Track World Championships coming up in October, so I'm going to reset and focus on that for the next few months," Wollaston said. "Looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics, I'm starting to get a bit tunnel-visioned for track, so I'm definitely leaning that way."

An interesting aspect for those who closely follow the dynamics of multi-discipline athletes : Wollaston herself admits that juggling road and track this year has been more challenging than usual, a factor that may help explain her seasonal performances. "It's mentally refreshing for me to switch between the two. I think this season has been a bit challenging in terms of trying to juggle the two disciplines and be at the top of both, and managing my times. I have to admit, I've struggled with that this year."

A self-critical admission that sounds like a wake-up call but also a promise of recovery: "In previous seasons, I had perhaps planned everything more precisely than this year. I feel like I drifted a bit this season without any real, well-defined goals. So I definitely think it's time to go back to the drawing board and try to structure the next two years towards Los Angeles more clearly."