Long solo attack "was not my plan" but Zoe Bäckstedt flies into another junior World Title with no tactics

As was the case in the time-trial, Zoe Bäckstedt was the overwhelming favourite to take the world title in the road race at the World Championships. She confirmed that status with a dominant win, however under unexpected circumstances.

"It was not my plan to ride off alone so early. I wanted to wait until the penultimate lap, but I felt good in the descent and decided to attack," the Briton said in a post-race interview. Despite the short 67-kilometer distance, Bäckstedt attacked with just 10 kilometers of racing, and quickly built up a good lead despite the chase of her competitors. 

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It reached over two minutes, however her effort started to pay towards the end of the race. "In the final lap my lead started to shrink, which made me panic. My coach in the team car said that my lead was big enough and that I had to stay calm," she described. The change was barely noticeable however as she reached the finish over two minutes ahead of the competition, riding one level above the rest of the field.

"There were a lot of people on the side of the road calling my name, on the climb I really needed that," she described. "I was very emotional at 1 kilometer from the finish. A second world title in a row and that on my birthday is very special." Now, Bäckstedt is set to go into the Elite field directly, as she will be representing EF Education-TIBCO-SVB in the coming season. 

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💐 UCI Women Junior Road Race 💐 GOLD: Zoe Backstedt 🇬🇧 SILVER: Eglantine Rayer 🇫🇷 BRONZE: Nienke Vinke 🇳🇱 #Wollongong2022

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