Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) will carry her sturdy end-of-season highway racing kind into the brand new cyclocross season with an eye fixed on defending her under-23 title on the UCI Cyclocross World Championships scheduled in Liévin, France on February 2.
Bäckstedt and her workforce introduced that her cyclocross season would start at X2O Trophee – Lokeren Rapencross on November 10, and embody a condensed line-up of races from November to February with a number of double weekends that additionally function occasions on the UCI Cyclocross World Cup.
“This yr’s World Cup program is condensed into lower than 2.5 months. Meaning quite a lot of intense weekends with double days. I’ve nonetheless not had too many full cyclocross seasons on the elite degree, however I stay up for seeing how I progress,” Bäckstedt stated.
“One of many greatest targets would be the World Championships, not too removed from my dwelling in Belgium and, fingers crossed, a course that I’ll discover enjoyable.
“However most significantly for this season, it is simply to get pleasure from it and push all the best way in every race. The highway season did not go 100% to plan, so I need to take every race because it comes.”
Bäckstedt’s highway season won’t have gone in response to plan however she had a powerful finish of the season with a stage victory on the Simac Girls Tour the place she led the general classification for the primary three phases. She ended ending third total behind Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Franziska Koch (dsm-firmenich PostNL).
“The tip of my highway season was higher than anticipated,” Bäckstedt stated. “It excites me for the cyclocross season, figuring out I’ve some good kind for the primary races. I simply have to dial within the technical elements, and I am able to go.”
Bäckstedt might be working with Canyon-SRAM’s newly-hired cyclocross director Geert Wellens within the first 5 scheduled races of her season; Lokeren X²O Trophee, Merksplas Superprestige, Hamme X²O Trophee, Antwerpen World Cup and the Dublin World Cup, and the remainder of her races might be introduced at a later date.
“I labored with Geert for two.5 years when shifting from juniors to the elite class. I at all times beloved how he approached teaching periods and made them enjoyable. Geert’s data is like no different, and I discover this useful after I’m at a cyclo-cross race. Having the most effective assist pre-, throughout, and post-race helps me keep centered and assured going into every race,” Bäckstedt stated.
Bäckstedt and Wellens labored collectively when she was racing for Acrog-Tormans workforce within the under-19 class. Final yr, Bäckstedt had an excellent season with 5 victories that included U23 titles on the UEC European Cyclocross Championships and the UCI Cyclocross World Championships.
Wellens goals to work with Bäckstedt on sustaining stability, motivation and race-day mindset in the course of the cyclocross season, whereas additionally engaged on method and particular expertise on the programs that she might be racing.
“We’ll see Zoe’s degree within the first races. It is necessary to take the season step-by-step. In fact, Zoe’s greatest race is the World Championships, however that is the identical for each rider. We goal to start out with a great feeling within the first races, then go into the primary World Cups confidently and set our different season targets,” Wellens stated.
Cyclocross schedule
- November 10, 2024 – Lokeren X²O Trophee
- November 16, 2024 – Merksplas Superprestige
- November 17, 2024 – Hamme X²O Trophee
- November 24, 2024 – Antwerpen World Cup
- December 1, 2024 – Dublin World Cup
