{"id":448537,"date":"2026-02-27T13:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/448537\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:16:11","slug":"if-i-hadnt-had-it-on-maybe-i-wouldnt-be-here-today-zoe-backstedt-recalls-horror-crash-which-smashed-helmet-into-so-many-pieces-cycling-news-bike-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/448537\/","title":{"rendered":"“If I hadn’t had it on, maybe I wouldn’t be here today”: Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt recalls horror crash which smashed helmet “into so many pieces” – Cycling News | Bike Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt\u2019s classics season gets underway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad tomorrow, the British multi-disciplinary star having returned to racing over the winter following a serious training crash in November which left her with multiple fractures and a new sense of faith in her use of a helmet.<\/p>\n

At the time, the 21-year-old, who won the U23 time trial at the World Championships in Rwanda and is expected to continue to translate her talent to the pro ranks, revealed she had suffered hand and wrist fractures in the crash<\/a> and was left believing her helmet had \u201csaved my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

B\u00e4ckstedt urged other riders to wear a helmet too and, ahead of Opening Weekend, told the BBC<\/a> she fears what could have happened if she had not been wearing one.<\/p>\n

\"ZoeZoe Backstedt\u2019s cracked helmet (Image Credit: Instagram\/Zoe Backstedt)<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows what would have happened if I hadn\u2019t had it on, maybe I wouldn\u2019t be here today, the way the helmet broke into so many pieces,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I crashed I didn\u2019t even realise what was happening, because click your fingers and it was over. I stood back up and had the immediate aftershock of, \u2018this isn\u2019t good\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere I go, I try to wear a helmet, even if it\u2019s just two kilometres away, it can save you so much if you\u2019re in an unfortunate accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the crash happened, back in November, B\u00e4ckstedt shared photos online of her badly damaged Red Bull-branded Giro helmet and thanked the lid brand for its protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I know for sure, my helmet saved my life. Thank you Giro Cycling. Wear a helmet, please,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

B\u00e4ckstedt\u2019s winter of cyclocross was disrupted by the crash, however she did return to action in the post-Christmas period and reeled off a string of top-10 finishes at UCI World Cup events before finishing seventh at the World Championships.<\/p>\n

> Perhaps my helmet did save my life \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t mean you need to wear one<\/a><\/p>\n

The daughter of 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus B\u00e4ckstedt and 1998 British national road race champion Megan Hughes, who also rides alongside sister Elynor in the pro peloton, Zoe\u2019s 2026 road season began with a strong showing at the UAE Tour, including a third-place on stage one and finishing second in the youth classification.<\/p>\n

\"20222022 Zoe Backstedt UCI Road World Championships \u00a9 Zac Willims SWpix.com (t-a Photography Hub Ltd) \u2013 1 (1).jpeg<\/p>\n

One of B\u00e4ckstedt\u2019s biggest goals remains a couple of years down the line, the Welsh rider telling the BBC her \u201cobvious dream\u201d is to be Olympic champion in Los Angeles in 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one in the future that would be a very big goal of mine,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to go for Los Angeles 2028, I want to give my everything to be on the start line and go for a podium, that would be pretty cool to do. If I hadn\u2019t been sick in 2024, I would have liked to have also been on the start line [in Paris], it just wasn\u2019t my year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was hard to accept but it just made me hungrier to be on the start line in LA.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, a classics season beckons, starting with Omloop tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt\u2019s classics season gets underway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad tomorrow, the British multi-disciplinary star having returned to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-448537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}