Magnus Bäckstedt on his plans for Canyon-SRAM and potential rivalry with his daughters

After looking over multiple offers from both the men's and the women's side of the sport, Magnus Backstedt decided Canyon/ /SRAM Racing was the right project for him. Now he's been discussing his plans and how he intends to set the team back on the winning path.

Women's cycling is only getting bigger and Bäckstedt says he always knew he wanted to get himself involved in it, “I had an offer to go work with a men’s team as well, and ultimately, it was a conscious decision that I took go into the women’s side of the sport,” the Swedish ex-pro told VeloNews. “There’s a lot of different reasons for that. For me, it was the excitement of where women’s cycling is right now and where it’s looking like it can go over the next number of years and being part of shaping the sport really, as it gets into the mainstream media."

The 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner will now be facing off against his two daughters. Elynor currently rides for Trek - Segafredo whilst Zoe is joining EF Education-TIBCO-SVB. On the potential family rivalry that could emerge, Bäckstedt said the following. “I know that we’re going to come up against my two daughters, relatively frequently."

Continuing, "For us, as a family, it works. We don’t really see it as something strange. It’s just who we are and what we do. At the same time, the nice aspect is that I’ll bump into one of the girls in the hotel if we’re staying in the same hotel … and even at points, we’ve ended up on the same flight travelling back home together, which is nice to get a bit of one-on-one time with your daughters, which, is very valuable to me.”

When it comes to improving the team's performances on the road, Bäckstedt was clear in his vision. “We need to find that having fun together on the bikes, and I think as soon as we start having a good time on the bikes, then I believe we’re going to be in the mix. I’m not expecting us to not perform at the start of the season, but I’m expecting us to see bigger changes as the season goes on.”