"It's great fun. It's like growing up again" - Zoe Bäckstedt loving being on same team as her legendary father

One of the brightest up-and-coming stars in the world of women's cycling, 19-year-old Zoe Bäckstedt continues to impress both on the road and in cyclocross. 

Since the start of September, she has also been riding for Canyon//SRAM Racing, the team in which her legendary father, Tour de France stage winner and 2004 Paris-Roubaix champion, Magnus Backstedt works as a sports director. "I really enjoy it. It's not something that you see that often, a daughter being in the same team as her father, but it's great fun. It's like growing up again," she tells Domestique about their working relationship. 

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"My dad has a lot of stories to tell about his career and I enjoy listening to it. Obviously he gives some good tips as well," she continues. Does the pressure of the family name weigh heavily on her shoulders however? "No not really. I go into these road races knowing that I am only a first-year pro, next year second. There is no pressure to do well," she insists. 

"I just need to learn and to do that I need to make mistakes in order to do it better the next time. Obviously, I put a little bit of pressure on myself to do well in certain races but from the outside I don’t feel it. My current team is very good at keeping things chill."

Despite starring this winter, taking her first World Cup podium in Dublin, Backstedt sees her future mainly on the road. "I may end up cutting my cyclo-cross season a little bit as there are a lot of World Cup races, meaning it is a very long season," she explains. "With this I would focus a little bit more on the roadside of things but for sure I still want to do cyclo-cross as it is something I love. I don’t think I could do a whole winter of pure road training. I need a little bit of racing and mud too."

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