“Some cobbles at the end, why not?” - Zoe Backstedt confident as favourite for under-23 time trial glory

Zoe Bäckstedt will line up in Rwanda with her sights set on the under-23 time trial world championship. The 20-year-old Welsh rider, who rides for Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto, has already built an impressive palmarès this season. A national champion in both cyclocross and the time trial, and winner of the Baloise Ladies Tour, she enters the event as one of the main contenders. Her task will be navigating a demanding course shaped by climbs, altitude, and cobbles.

“That’s the goal,” she said to Cycling Weekly when asked if she was targeting the victory. “I would really love to be able to do that, but you never really know what’s going to happen on a course like this, also with the altitude to think about. I think that’s going to be a big part.”

The 22.6km route is a shortened version of the elite men’s and women’s course. It takes riders up the Côte de Nyanza climb, 2.4km at 5.5%, and later the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura, 1.3km at 5.8%, before finishing back in Kigali. For Bäckstedt, the design offers opportunities as well as challenges.

“It looks like a fun course, if you ask me, not super technical,” Bäckstedt said. “It should be a reasonable ratio of distance and climbing to what Nationals was, so that’s also quite exciting, just without that really, really, really steep climb that we had to do, thankfully, only one time.

“I’m excited for it, some cobbles at the end – why not throw them in? – that’s going to be also fun. I think it’s going to be hopefully easy to break down. You obviously have the long climb quite early on and then still pushing on the downhill trying to make up time wherever you can. I would say it’s quite a nice distance for me as well.”

Her candid assessment reflects both her ambition and her awareness of the unpredictability of racing in Rwanda’s conditions. At close to altitude, pacing will be crucial, and the balance between the climb and technical downhill sections may decide the medal positions.

“It’s a little bit longer and not what I’m used to,” she said. “I think I’ve got a good shot at the under-23, and I’m still under-23 for this season, so why would I not try and go for it?

“I hope I’m in peak condition. The last weeks of training have been good, so we will only find out on the day.”