Zoe Backstedt targets Paris-Roubaix success 22 years after father Magnus’ famous victory: “I’m worthy of being at the front”

Zoe Backstedt heads to Paris-Roubaix Femmes on 12 April not just in the best road form of her young career, but with a growing sense that her moment on the cobbles may be closer than ever. More than two decades after Magnus Backstedt powered to a famous victory in Roubaix, his daughter arrives at the same race as a genuine outsider capable of shaping the outcome.

The 21-year-old has taken a clear step forward this spring, underlined by fourth place at Dwars door Vlaanderen and a breakthrough fifth at the Tour of Flanders, where she rode among the elite group of favourites.

Reflecting on that performance, she said in conversation with Cycling Weekly: “I was really proud of myself for the ride that I did. It was definitely the best day that I've ever had on the bike.”

The confidence from that ride has carried forward, adding: “I just have confidence in myself, that I know what I'm doing, that I can do these races. I can be at the front, and I'm worthy of being at the front.”

Backstedt’s growing belief is backed by a steady progression in Paris-Roubaix itself. Since making her debut in 2023, she has improved year on year, finishing 46th, then 16th in 2024, and 15th last season. In a race where experience, positioning and resilience are often as decisive as raw strength, that trajectory is significant.

Her own view of that progression is clear. “In the first edition, I was there almost to make up numbers a little bit, just to experience the race,” she explained. “Now I'm here as a rider, and I want to be in the front group. I want to be there when the big riders get going, when it kicks off.”

That shift in mindset reflects a rider no longer content to follow the race, but ready to influence it. It also aligns with the nature of Roubaix itself, where being present at the right moment often matters more than dominating from the start.

Paris-Roubaix Femmes has long stood out as a natural target for Backstedt, whose background and skillset suit the demands of the cobbles. This year, the race marks the clear endpoint of her spring campaign, giving her freedom to commit fully.

“I would say this is what my cyclo-cross season and spring lead towards,” she said. “I can go all in for that last one… I can just go 100% full gas for this one. I've got nothing else for a while. So it's nice that I can just, I can be completely empty on the finish line.”

Her understanding of the race’s brutality is equally clear. “It's absolutely brutal… it's a lot about luck,” she said. “It's a race where you have 26 plans, every single letter of the alphabet has got a plan to it. If you have a puncture, you ride it until you can't ride it anymore.”

That combination of realism and intent is crucial in a race defined as much by survival as by strength.

The connection to Roubaix runs deeper than just family history. Magnus Backstedt’s victory in 2004 came in a race shaped by attrition, punctures and late-race chaos, before being decided in a small group sprint inside the velodrome. It remains the defining win of his career, and a reminder of how unpredictable the race can be.

For Backstedt, who was born just five months after that triumph, the parallels are clear without needing to be overstated. Paris-Roubaix has rarely been a race won on paper; it is one that rewards those who can endure, adapt and position themselves when it matters most.

That is precisely the profile she is beginning to build. With improving results, growing confidence and a willingness to commit fully, Backstedt arrives not as a sentimental story, but as a rider whose trajectory fits the demands of the race.

If everything falls into place on the cobbles this Sunday, the possibility of another Backstedt moment in Roubaix may not be as distant as it once seemed.