{"id":662810,"date":"2026-06-28T13:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662810\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T13:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:30:10","slug":"british-national-championships-zoe-backstedt-doubles-up-with-elite-womens-road-race-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662810\/","title":{"rendered":"British National Championships: Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt doubles up with elite women’s road race win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt<\/a> (Canyon\/\/SRAM) completed a stunning double in the elite women’s road race in Aberystwyth on Sunday. After successfully defending her individual time trial title on Thursday, B\u00e4ckstedt added the road race to her palmares, her first elite title on the road won on home soil in Wales. <\/p>\n

DAS-Hutchinson’s Josie Knight finished second, a fantastic reward following a brave solo ride in the breakaway for the track specialist, and last year’s champion Millie Couzens<\/a> (Fenix-Premier Tech) won the sprint from a reduced bunch to round out the podium.<\/p>\n

Knight attacked early in the race, ahead of the finishing circuit in Aberystwyth, and led the race alone for over 90 kilometres, enjoying a gap of around 8 minutes at one point. <\/p>\n

A chase group of three riders – B\u00e4ckstedt, Matilda McKibben (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes) and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) – attempted to make an impact on Knight’s advantage and cut it down to four minutes with three laps of the local circuit remaining, when B\u00e4ckstedt launched an attack to leave the trio and set off in pursuit of Knight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was a breathtaking chase, with B\u00e4ckstedt taking off half of the deficit in the first lap of her solo pursuit. She continued to chip away steadily at the gap and with Knight visibly tiring, B\u00e4ckstedt’s power and time trialling acumen saw her make the catch with 14km to go.<\/p>\n

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Behind the leaders, Picnic-PostNL spearheaded an attack from the peloton to try and split the bunch, and defending champion Couzens was among the group to make the split.<\/p>\n

The chase group put pressure on the leaders, closing to within two minutes of B\u00e4ckstedt as she took the lead. However, they were no match for the endurance of the Welsh rider, and were unable to make any further impression on B\u00e4ckstedt’s lead over the remainder of the race.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old proved her mettle, holding on to become the first British woman to complete the time-trial-road race double since Alice Wood in 2019.<\/p>\n

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