BÄCKSTEDT'S BRITISH DOUBLE LEADS STRONG NATIONALS CAMPAIGN FOR CANYON//SRAM

Zoe Bäckstedt delivered one of the most remarkable rides of her already glittering career on Sunday, defying cycling probability to claim a sensational British elite women’s road race title.

On the final day of a compact but significant national championships block, Zoe launched from the favourites’ group with 50km remaining, embarking on a relentless solo pursuit of the lone leader, who held a gap of more than six minutes over the main chase.

In a breathtaking display of power, stamina and utter brilliance, Zoe steadily erased the deficit to Knight (DAS), making the catch with 14km to go. Barely pausing, she immediately rode clear of the accomplished track rider and set sail towards the finish, crossing the line on the Welsh coast with her arms aloft to secure the win by 1:42. An overjoyed and somewhat disbelieving Zoe recapped her race:

“It feels incredible to pull off this ride. I really didn’t think it was possible at the halfway point in the race, so to finish with almost two minutes on the peloton, it’s such an amazing feeling.

I honestly thought that I was going to be riding for maybe a top 10, and I was basically doing a solo attack just to get that. Slowly but surely, I was catching riders and didn’t realise that there was only one left [Knight] in front. The team car came alongside to tell me, so I was fully determined to bring her back and race for the victory.

How did I make the decisive move? Flora [Perkins] went and I jumped across to her with no-one following me. And then from there, I rode with her for a little bit but she said she wasn’t feeling great, so I attacked her and then it was solo all the way to the finish. I remembered the downhill from last year, so I knew that I could go full gas in all of the corners apart from the bottom one. From there, it was battling the headwind back to the climb, followed by descent-headwind-climb on repeat until I was in the lead of the race.

What was going through my mind as the gap started coming down? I went through the finish line for the first time and had a six-minute gap, and at that point, with 45km to go, I’m thinking ‘I don’t think this is going to be possible – it’s going to have to be some ride to to pull her back.’

People were giving me time checks and they were like 5:50, 5:00, 4:40, 4:10, 3:30, 2:00 – all the way down. And then on the climb, I could already see her team car, and just at the bottom of the descent was when I could really start to see her properly.

I took a second to breathe and attacked her as well. I wanted to ride solo and take it all the way to the finish because in the end, she [Knight] was also quite close to the peloton, and I didn’t want them to come back. I knew I was on a really good pace and was able to push the same power from when I went until the finish. What a day!

I would say that this race, Tour de Suisse and Flanders this year are the three biggest rides that I’ve done in my career. I’m still young, so I’ve not had so many big wins, but hopefully more are coming. And today was just incredibly special.”

Racing on home Welsh soil made today’s big victory even more meaningful, coming 28 years after her mother achieved the same feat – potentially marking the first mother-daughter pairing to win British elite road race titles. At just 21 years of age, she also took the British U23 road race title, awarded within the elite event.

One day earlier in Portugal, Maria ‘Tata’ Martins had already set the tone for the team’s weekend, sprinting to victory to claim the Portuguese national road race title and earn the right to swap her team kit for a champion’s edition. A delighted Tata said:

“It feels really amazing to take this jersey. I always dream of using the Portuguese jersey in international races with the team, so it’s really special and I cannot be more proud of this.”

Rewind five days and the momentum was already building, with CANYON//SRAM riders rattling off three elite national time trial victories across three consecutive days.

First up on Wednesday, Tsige Kahsay Kiros claimed her maiden Ethiopian elite national title, improving on last year’s junior runner-up finish.

Then on Thursday, Zoe secured her first national crown of the week before Eritrea’s Monaliza Araya Chneslasie completed the team hat-trick on Friday. Both riders successfully retained their time trial titles from 2025, while for Monaliza, the victory carried extra satisfaction after narrowly missing out on repeating as road race champion the previous day, settling for silver.

Meanwhile, Zoe arrived at the championships fresh from an outstanding Tour de Suisse, where she claimed her debut WorldTour road race victory before finishing runner-up in the individual time trial to the reigning elite World and European champion. Reflecting on Thursday, she said:

“I think there was a bit of pressure, especially off the back of my ride in Suisse but I tried to stay calm and just focus on the day’s efforts. It’s always an amazing feeling to wear your country’s champion jersey, and to get to wear it two years in a row is amazing”. 

Now, three days later, she has earned the privilege of wearing the national colours in the road race too, becoming the first British woman to complete the elite time trial and road race double since 2019, when Alice Wood (née Barnes) also accomplished the same feat in CANYON//SRAM colours.

In total during the national championships period, the team fielded 16 riders across eight countries.

Fellow 21-year-old Welsh rider Awen Roberts joined Zoe at the British Championships, securing silver in the U23 time trial. In Germany, Justyna Czapla went one better, defending her U23 national time trial title in commanding fashion, while Antonia Niedermaier narrowly missed out on retaining the elite crown as Koch (TFS) proved strongest on the day – silver it was.

The German contingent then faced a quick turnaround from Friday’s time trial to Saturday’s road race. It was Justyna who ignited the first decisive move, attacking with nearly 80km remaining. She wasn’t reeled in until the final 10km, when an elite quartet that included Antonia finally made the catch. Antonia was launching countless attacks in an effort to distance her key rivals, but remarkably, it was Justyna who ultimately delivered the team’s best result, holding onto the front group despite her long-range move, before sprinting to third to claim the first German elite national medal of her career.

In Poland, defending champion Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka claimed silver in the time trial – her fifth consecutive national time trial podium – before backing it up with another strong road race performance to match last year’s bronze medal.

Last but not least, after opening the team’s nationals  campaign on Wednesday, Tsige returned to racing on Sunday, sprinting to third in a flat and tactically complex Ethiopian elite road race.

Many Generation riders are now soaking up a short dose of recovery before team racing resumes at Volta a Portugal on Wednesday, running from July 1-5. The first of the team’s newly crowned national champions are expected back in action at the Baloise Ladies Tour from July 14, with race rosters and updates to follow via the team’s social media channels.