Zoe Bäckstedt has just signed a contract with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB as a trainee for the remaining 2022 season. The team decided to take Zoe on board just after her first race at the pro team. It is decided that Zoe will race cyclo-cross and will also take part in road racing throughout the 2022 winter. Her status will turn in 2023 and be updated to the senior class.
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Zoe’s father Magnus Bäckstedt, won the Paris-Roubaix, while Zoe herself is no less than perfect. She is the Junior World Champion of both genres, road racing as well as the cyclo-cross. Cycling is rooted deep in her family. According to Zoe:
My dad [Magnus Bäckstedt] won Paris-Roubaix so for as long as I can remember, he’s ridden a bike. My mum [Megan Hughes] was the British national champion in the road race and has a track bronze medal in the sprint as a junior.
She comes from a family of cycling geniuses:
My sister has Worlds medals and now rides in the WorldTour. Cycling is in my blood
Zoe herself has 10 wins to her name at the 2021-2022 cyclo-cross season. Her long list of victories does not end here. At the Watersley Ladies Challenge, she made a striking win at the time trial. While she took the overall win at EPZ Omloop van Borsele. Zoe has multiple gold medals in the individual and team pursuits, and the Madison at the European junior track championships of 2021. She has an outstanding record.
She was not always a big fan of cycling, but her feelings changed eventually and by the year she was 10, she absolutely loved it. As Zoe said:
It took me a couple of years to get into it, meaning I really hated cycling until I was about 10. And now I love it to bits. I absolutely love it
Although she had other offers too, but she felt at home at EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and that was what the aspiring young rider was looking for. Zoe shared the details of her meeting with the team:
I spoke with a couple of other teams. I had a Zoom call with Linda, the team owner. Just the way I was speaking with her, the way she was speaking with me, how we got along, it seemed to work. I went downstairs after that call and I said to my dad, ‘That’s my team. I want to sign for them
It was her dream to ride both styles with a single team because it never worked out too great if you are on board with two teams. We hope that things work out for Zoe the way she hopes to.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ The Young Peloton