ZOE SECURES FIRST CYCLO-CROSS SEASON PODIUM IN BAAL!

Zoe Bäckstedt continued her swift rise back to the very top of cyclo-cross with a third-place finish in just her third race back – the first podium of her shortened season.

X²O Trofee Baal – GP Sven Nys marked a successful first outing for the new 2026 CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto colours, with the Jan 01 date and corresponding season change adding an extra sense of novelty to the event.

Zoe was thrilled with how the first race of the year played out.

“⁠I’m extremely happy with the race! It was almost perfect conditions for me today. It started raining when I was doing my warm up so I’m happy that my rain dance worked. I was feeling good going into today – I didn’t expect much from it, but I just wanted to come away with the feeling that I had made progress again.”

After returning to cyclo-cross in bright, sunny conditions, race three delivered a reminder of what ‘true cross’ looks like. Temperatures could be counted on one hand and rain was falling at the Sven Nys Training Centre, a permanent cyclo-cross venue packed with off-road features and significant elevation gain.

Zoe had an excellent start, entering the course proper in second position. Gaps began to open early, with undefeated cross contender Lucinda Brand quickly establishing herself at the front. Behind her, Zoe showed immense strength on the power climbs, moving past Jolanda Neff to be in second by the end of the opening lap, 13 seconds down on the lead.

By the end of lap two, a tentative pecking order had largely been established. Brand led out front, with Puck Pieterse moving up to second and Zoe settling into third, the gaps already defined. As the course became increasingly churned up and unpredictable, complacency was not an option.

“⁠⁠From the end of the first lap, we were already riding for the first three finishing positions, so it just meant that I needed to continue pushing for the whole race and make it to the finish line! Of course, there were some mistakes along the way, but that’s part of these conditions and part of the game.”

In a 43-minute race ridden largely solo, Zoe held firm to take third place, finishing +1:30 mins down – another major confidence boost as she continues to find her cyclo-cross rhythm.

Zoe now takes a one-day respite before searching for more success at Superprestige Gullegem and Round 9 of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Zonhoven, on Saturday and Sunday respectively.