"When we’re here, I’m Maggy. When we’re within four walls and it’s just the two of us, then I’m dad" - Magnus and Zoe Bäckstedt describe working together

The Bäckstedt family has a strong sound in the women peloton, not only because of the rising star Zoe Bäckstedt, but also thanks to her dad Magnus, former Paris-Roubaix winner, who is important part of the Canyon//SRAM Racing team as sports director. How does the relationships between the father and daughter work on and off the bike?

"When we’re here, I’m Maggy. When we’re within four walls and it’s just the two of us, then I’m dad," Magnus explains to GCN. "When I’m standing up giving the pre-race briefing, I’m just a sports director and she’s just another rider. It’s good and healthy for us to have that boundary."

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For Zoe, the attitude is very much the same, even if she receives a gentle ribbing from her teammates from time to time in calling her dad by his 'real' name. "Sometimes you kind of forget it’s your dad in the car or the meeting," Zoe says. "You’re just kind of sat there like staring at what you have to do and taking in all the information – there’s so much information he can bring to every single race, even though he did the racing however long ago it was."

The situation gets even more complicated when third Bäckstedt, Elynor, was also racing in De Panne. "It was, I guess, a little bit strange at points, when you see her on another team and you’re working against her," Magnus admits. "But we’ve done this since the girls were tiny. We’ve discussed all the potential scenarios of what can happen and I don’t see there being any problems."

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