{"id":599812,"date":"2026-04-11T10:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/599812\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T10:01:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:01:44","slug":"age-doesnt-matter-zoe-backstedt-carries-momentum-from-flanders-to-unpredictable-paris-roubaix-with-consonni-and-dygert-among-reinforcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/599812\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Age doesn’t matter’ – Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt carries momentum from Flanders to ‘unpredictable’ Paris-Roubaix with Consonni and Dygert among reinforcements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt arrives before the march across the hallowed cobbles of Paris-Roubaix<\/a> as a co-leader for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto. In the last week alone, she’s soared to new heights with her first top 5 finishes at Women’s WorldTour one-day races, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is the sixth edition of the women’s Hell of the North, with 33.7km of the 143.1-kilometre test punctuated by 20 sectors of pav\u00e9, making it one of the most ruthless rides on the calendar.<\/p>\n

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So can the U23 women’s time trial World Champion conquer the cobbles? She’s done it three times before, last setting a career high marker at 15th. Her pedigree says she can do it, as her father, Magnus, won the men’s race in 2004. With solid fitness and firm focus, the 21-year-old exuded confidence.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m having great fun this spring, and I\u2019m enjoying every challenge and every race I\u2019ve been in. It\u2019s a good learning experience for me,” Backstedt told Cyclingnews.<\/p>\n

“Obviously, the Flanders and Roubaix courses are two very different things, but it\u2019s given me good insights into where my form is at,” she added in a team statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to better my result from last year, but you can\u2019t go in with too many expectations as it\u2019s such an unpredictable race. I always race the best when I\u2019m there to have fun and to show myself, so I\u2019m ready to race my heart out!\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the confidence boosters is the solid fortress of teammates who will ride together on Sunday. In fact, all six riders – B\u00e4ckstedt, Chiara Consonni, Tiffany Cromwell, Chlo\u00e9 Dygert, Rosa Kl\u00f6ser and Maria Martins – have been in the race before, with Martins appearing four times and Consonni all five years.<\/p>\n

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Dygert had the fewest race days in the group, but felt she still had great shape to help the team: \u201cAs important as it is to be in a good position for this race, it ultimately comes down to fitness. I\u2019m hoping I have enough fitness built up to run a good race.\u201d<\/p>\n

B\u00e4ckstedt proved across her Spring Classics campaign in Belgium that she has form as well. And while she is the youngest on her team, she noted that experience counted more than age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think age doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s more about experience and strengths for particular races. I\u2019m supported by my teammates, just as I support them in other races. We share the responsibility,\u201d she confirmed to Cyclingnews.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

New configurations for the women’s race include riding on the same day as the men and a new order for the cobbles, including three new ones. With the men racing first, the women’s peloton faces an unknown on how the pounding of other riders and another caravan will affect the 17 common sectors they will share en route to the velodrome finish.<\/p>\n

Among the three new sectors of cobbles<\/a> is the four-star, 2.5km Haveluy \u00e0 Wallers sector at kilometre 52. It includes a sharp 90-degree bend at the halfway point.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t rattle the nerves for B\u00e4ckstedt, however, as this time she noted that the riders can work their way into the four-star punishment, unlike 2025.<\/p>\n

“Last year, the first sector was a four-star sector. This year, we have two two-star sectors earlier in the race, before we get to the first four-star sector,” she told Cyclingnews. “And then we have back-to-back four-star sectors. It\u2019s going to be really interesting!\u201d<\/p>\n

She gave a nod to her teammate Consonni as one of the cards the team has for Sunday. The Italian, proficient in sprints on the road and on the track, has had success at Paris-Roubaix, with a pair of top 10s in 2023 and last year.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s one of the hardest races in the calendar, but I also like that it isn\u2019t just racing \u2013 you need to be lucky. And also, we finish in a velodrome, so that\u2019s also why I really like it. I think first, to be there at the end, and maybe to bring back home one stone,” Consonni said in a team statement, referring to the chunk of pave given to each winner.<\/p>\n

“I think we are a really good team, and we have a lot of options. But first, we need to be there and then go all out in the velodrome.”<\/p>\n

Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We’ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. <\/a>Find out more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt arrives before the march across the hallowed cobbles of Paris-Roubaix as a co-leader for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-599812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}