Father Bäckstedt celebrates with daughter Zoë after Cyclo-cross World Championship victory, but it wasn’t easy: "Panicked briefly"

Zoe Backstedt has another rainbow jersey in her collection. The British rider was superb in Liévin, France, although she made many mistakes during the cyclo-cross race. Leonie Bentveld joined favorite Backstedt on the podium; the Dutch rider finished third.

"The first round did not go very smooth; in the end, I panicked briefly," Backstedt said afterward in her flash interview. "The conditions were the opposite of the recon, and I think I just had a lot of adrenaline. I slid off in one of the corners and fell slightly behind, but I managed to reset myself and get back up front."

The race was not error-free, but the 20-year-old rider became world champion in the U23s category for the second time. "I was never in control; it was a very challenging course that was contrary to what I had expected. It was very slippery; even in the easy corners, you could just lose control. I had to go full throttle to the finish, which made it an interesting race. I wanted less air in my tires to see how that would go. Once that was implemented, I felt more comfortable."

Until recently, the rider from Canyon/SRAM zondacrypto was not too confident about this World Championships. "It wasn't a smooth season, even though I won the World Championships in the U23 category. Things went up and down at the start of the season, but the last races (especially Maasmechelen in Belgium) boosted my confidence in heading to the World Championships. I had the fire and am happy to be world champion again."

Read more below the photo.

Bäckstedt certainly did not have an error-free race

Leonie Bentveld takes bronze again: "Slightly more satisfied than last year"

With Backstedt back on top again, Leonie Bentveld also finished in the same spot as last year. The Dutch rider secured bronze. "I think I am a little more satisfied than last year. The past few weeks weren't good. I've been quite sick at training camp in Spain. So, last weekend, it was more cycling backward than forwards, so I tried to make a turnaround this week. I felt it was on the better side on Wednesday, so I just took confidence from that. So I'm pleased with a bronze medal."

The 20-year-old rider is satisfied. "It's also kind of a fair course. But it wasn't said that I would just finish third. It's very different from the World Cups, where many U23 riders start in the third or fourth row. You see now that many people compete at the front right away, but I expected that."

"I knew it was essential to divide the race well and make a few mistakes especially. I think you can lose a lot here if you ride around too fast and make mistakes. So, I tried to be very focused and hit the technical sections. I knew that suited me better than the power sections. There, I kept gaining on the leaders, but after, I dropped out again. But I can be satisfied with my race because I was reasonably error-free."

Whether we will see Bentveld in action in the coming period remains to be seen. "Normally, I would ride through to Oostmalle, but my motivation is a bit gone because I missed a week of training due to illness. So it is now riding on character. I don't think it's wise to continue for another three weeks, so we'll see what we'll do."

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