Zoe Bäckstedt stormed to her second-ever elite podium today in Dublin, Ireland. The 19-year-old stormed to third place in muddy conditions, also winning the U23 category, and moving into second in the overall classification. Already leading the U23 World Cup classification, Zoe’s phenomenal performance meant she extended her lead in that classification, too.

RIDER REACTIONS

Zoe said, “It was incredible racing in front of so much of my family. It’s special for me, and I loved having them come to the race.

I feel like I managed the course pretty well. It changed entirely from recon to the race due to the rain, but I had that in mind already before we arrived at the course on race day. I made the decision on tyres while I was on the rollers warming up, and I’m happy I did so. 

I’m really happy with how I paced the race. The last lap and a half was a little stressful with the Luxembourg rider coming back to me, but I think overall, I managed it pretty well! The gaps were small, but I didn’t realise that until I had a lap to go.

The season so far is going better than expected! I don’t think I could have predicted two podiums in elite at this point in the season.

It was incredible racing in front of so much of my family. 

I’m looking forward to the next races, but first I have a training camp in the USA, and I’m excited to see all my teammates again.”

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