"Maybe my first few races back are not great, but just give me some time": Zoe Backstedt returns to cyclocross after wrist fracture

Zoe Bäckstedt will make her highly anticipated cyclo-cross season debut on 28 December at the UCI World Cup round in Dendermonde. The British talent, which had a breakthrough season in which she confirmed herself as one of the best time trialists in the peloton, has been inactive in the last weeks due to a crash.

The 23-year-old suffered a wrist fracture in a training crash on 1 November, which delayed her cyclocross debut for around one month. The injury is now over and she is ready to get back on the mud, although she knows the first races will not be easy.

“For my first race back, my hopes and expectations are not super high – not in a bad way, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself to achieve something that’s not realistic. It’s been a long six weeks watching everyone else racing and I just want to be racing with them. So maybe my first few races back are not great, but just give me some time,” she said in a team statement.

Recovery was not easy, but her current shape is better than what she initially expected. “It feels so good to be back on the cross bike. I was a bit apprehensive about that first session, but in the end it was nothing to worry about!”

“The past five or six weeks were tough, mostly because I had to ride on the turbo every day! But at the same time, it made it even more enjoyable when I could ride outside again. In general, I feel like I’m in pretty okay shape, all things considered. For sure, the strength around my wrist isn’t as good as it used to be, but that’s all part of coming back from injury…”

Explaining her enduring attachment to cyclo-cross, Bäckstedt said to Cycling Weekly: “Everyone thinks we must be a crazy bunch of people to enjoy racing in 2°C in the rain, when all the road riders are in the sun or on holiday. But that’s part of what I love about it, being in nature, among the trees.”

“In the summer, I always say, ‘Oh, I love the road, but I miss cyclo-cross.’ And in the winter, I always say the opposite. As long as I’m on a bike, I’m happy.”

Her winter calendar currently includes eight cyclo-cross events, while her participation at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships at the end of January has yet to be confirmed. Last season, she competed in 16 cyclo-cross races and finished inside the top ten in every event. Her highlights included second place at the World Cup in Zonhoven, which is her best elite World Cup result to date.

28 December: Round 8, UCI World Cup Dendermonde (BEL)

29 December: X²O Trofee Azencross - Loenhout (BEL)

1 January: X²O Trofee Baal - GP Sven Nys (BEL)

3 January: Superprestige Gullegem (BEL)

4 January: Round 9, UCI World Cup Zonhoven (BEL)

18 January: Round 10, UCI World Cup Benidorm (ESP)

24 January: Round 11, UCI World Cup Maasmechelen (BEL)

25 January: Round 12, UCI World Cup Hoogerheide (NED)

TBD, 30 January: UCI World Championships Hulst (NED)

TBD, 31 January: UCI World Championships Hulst (NED)