Zoe Bäckstedt signs with Canyon/SRAM for 2023

On Friday, Canyon/SRAM racing announced that Zoe Bäckstedt signed a three-year deal with the team. The contract is effective Septmeber 1, so she will race in Canyon colours for the 2023/2024 cyclo-cross season.

Bäckstedt is a multi-disciplinary racer, so she will split her time between road, cyclo-cross and track throughout her contract with the team.

Magnus Bäckstedt new directeur sportif of Canyon/Sram women’s racing team

Team manager Ronny Lauke was excited to sign one of the most talked about riders in the women’s peloton.

Linda Jackson helped facilitate quick agreement

“We are pleased to have secured the talent of Zoe as part of our future planning to guide young talents to the sport’s top level. Our strategy has always been to see and accompany the growth of young, ambitious riders. Quickly and smoothly, we reached an agreement with Zoe’s former team owner, Linda Jackson, that enabled Zoe to begin the next CX season already with our team, which we agreed was to her benefit,” he said. “Zoe will fit well into the group of riders we already have united within the team and our high ambitions to grow further. We are looking forward to the journey.”

Previously on EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team

Bäckstedt was part of the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team which is ceasing operations after 2023, following news that the title sponsor would instead support a new outfit run by Jonathan Vaughters. That squad will act as the women’s version of the current EF Education-Cannondale team.

Zoe Bäckstedt destroys Wollongong 2022 Junior women’s chrono course to pluck gold for Great Britain

“I’m excited about the opportunities at Canyon//SRAM Racing. I will get to race with a strong squad and have the freedom to race in any discipline I want to, as well. The team has made a lot of developments in the last year, and you can see that on and off the bike,” Bäckstedt said. “I really like this; it helped my decision as I like to have a good structure around me. Plus, the bikes and kit are pretty cool.I believe I will bring to Canyon//SRAM Racing some more good tunes to the pre-race playlist, my love for the sport and just the fact I’m happy to be at a bike race with my teammates.”

Home base is Belgium

In 2022, the 18-year-old relocated from Wales to Belgium and prefers the location for racing and training.

“There are so many benefits that I’ve found for living here. For example, there is a lot less travelling over the winter for the cyclo-cross season because if the race is in Belgium, it will be a maximum of two hours away,” she said. “Same for the classics. If a rider becomes injured or sick before a race, I can go to the race without long or last-minute travel. Plus, I have most of the roads from the classics within a 30-minute ride from my home.”

Although she’s only 18, Bäckstedt already has an impressive list of achievements. In 2022, she began the year by securing the title of junior CX world champion for the 2021-2022 season. She further bolstered her palmares when she won the junior world champion titles in road, ITT, and madison, all within the same year. These accomplishments followed her junior road world champion title from the previous year, along with a collection of European and national titles.

When she graduated to the u-23 ranks in cyclo-cross last winter, Zoe took a silver medal at the World Championships in Hoogerheide. She’s also the current elite women’s British CX national champion.

“I am so happy that Zoe found a good home with Canyon//SRAM Racing. Placing Zoe on a new team before the 2023/2024 CX season started was critical to supporting her 2024 world CX championships goals,” EF Education-Tibco-SVB team found Linda Jackson said.

“I have always respected Ronny’s team, and we have very similar strategies; to find promising young riders early and develop them into top international riders. At just 18, Zoe is very young and has incredible potential,” the former national champion added. “She needs a team that will work with her as she grows and not put too much pressure on her too soon. She’s talented across many different disciplines, and balancing her racing calendar and not overloading her requires a team focused on developing riders and putting their needs first. She has that with Canyon/ SRAM, and while sad about my team’s circumstances that led to this change, I am truly excited to follow her future with Ronny’s team, and I wish her the very best.”