Zoe Backstedt Emphasizes Helmet Safety Following Training Crash
Zoe Backstedt secured a commanding victory in the under-23 time trial at the 2025 Road World Championships held in Rwanda. The Welsh cyclist has since underscored the critical importance of always wearing a helmet after experiencing a serious crash during training.
In October, Backstedt sustained fractures to her hand and wrist, which interrupted her cyclo-cross season. She made her return to competition at the end of December and subsequently achieved a 7th place finish in the women's elite race at the 2026 Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Hulst, Netherlands, just three months following the accident.
"Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't had it on, maybe I wouldn't be here today, the way the helmet broke into so many pieces," said the 21-year-old Backstedt.
"When I crashed I didn't even realise what was happening, because click your fingers and it was over.
"I stood back up and had the immediate aftershock of, 'this isn't good'."
The severe crash occurred two weeks before Backstedt was scheduled to begin her 2025-26 season.
"My hand was hurting, got it caught in my front wheel and my head was on the ground," the Belgium-based rider told Wales from a training camp in Spain.
"There were so many emotions going through me. My first thought was, my cyclocross season is done.
Backstedt, who is the younger sister of professional cyclist Elynor Backstedt, feared she would not be able to return to riding until the prestigious one-day road 'Spring Classics' starting at the end of February.
"I went to a specialist back in Belgium and she said that it was going to be the new year that I was going to be able to race.
"I did start crying in that moment, because I'd done so much training, and I'd done so much preparation for the cyclo-cross season.
"To think that in the space of two seconds, that is gone, you know? That's the season almost done."
Her recovery, however, progressed more rapidly than initially expected.
"Once I could start training again a little bit and I was cleared from concussion, I started planning when I could get back," she added.
"Then I had a goal to look forward to and I had a race in mind that I could try and be on the start line for.
"That was the thing that was keeping me going, knowing that at some point I could, even though it was a short season, I could still do some cyclocross races."
Backstedt stated that the experience has reinforced her conviction about the necessity of wearing a helmet at all times.
"Everywhere I go, I try to wear a helmet, even if it's just two kilometres away, it can save you so much if you're in an unfortunate accident."
Return to Competition and World Championships Performance
Despite a shortened cyclo-cross season, Backstedt returned in time to compete at the World Championships at the end of January. The Welsh rider expressed her fondness for the challenging winter conditions typical of cyclo-cross.
"The dream conditions are two degrees, raining, just like growing up in Wales," Backstedt explained.
"Everyone is cold on the start line, and then you start, and it's full gas, start to finish.
"You have some running in there, you have to get off and go up stairs, you have to do everything that cyclo-cross involves."
With a new World Championships course in Hulst, Backstedt admitted to some initial apprehension during course reconnaissance.
"Nobody had done the course before," she said.
"You get to the first downhill and we know what it's like to run up but we don't know what it's like to go down.
"You come into it the first time, and you think, 'Oh my gosh, I don't want to look down, because it's really steep,' and you think, 'How am I going to get down here? Which line do I take?'
"You stand at the top for ten minutes to watch some more people do it, and then you get to the bottom and think, 'what was I so worried about?'"
Backstedt finished seventh, just 14 seconds shy of a medal, and was narrowly four seconds off a medal in the mixed relay. This marked a promising return for her first senior World Championship.
Additional Career Highlights
Backstedt also claimed gold in the Under-23 time trial at the World Championships, won the national time trial to secure her first elite title, and became the youngest winner of the Baloise Ladies Tour.
Following in Famous Footsteps
The Backstedt name holds significant recognition in cycling. Her father, Magnus Backstedt, won Paris-Roubaix and a stage of the 1998 Tour de France, while her mother, Megan, was the British road race national champion and represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur the same year.
Both Zoe and her sister Elynor have pursued professional cycling careers, building on their family's legacy.
Backstedt credits much of her inspiration to her time at Maindy Flyers in Cardiff, a cycling club known for producing notable athletes.
"Elinor Barker was just a few years older than my sister, so as I was looking towards cycling as a career, she was stepping into racing and I got to watch her grow and progress in the sport.
"It's something cool to see, coming from the same club you are, riding circles around Maindy Velodrome and you're like 'Yeah, if she can do it, I can do it, maybe I can follow in those footsteps'.
"We've had a similar path into cycling and then you want to do that too."
Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas also began his career at Maindy Velodrome, which opened in 1951 and hosted the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
"He progressed from Maindy to the men's world tour, so it's a little bit different, but you're still coming from the same place, doing the same sessions on a Tuesday night," she added.
Backstedt hopes to inspire the next generation of cyclists coming through the club.
"To see all the little ones that are coming up through the sport and see if you can inspire them.
"I think even out on the roads here in Spain, I've seen some people from Maindy out riding.
"You're waving at them on the bike and you're like, 'Yeah, you could be in my team in a few years, or riding in one of the men's teams', and that's just so cool to see."
Olympic Ambitions
Backstedt has set ambitious goals for her career, having already secured nine world titles by age 20 across cyclo-cross, road, and track cycling.
"I think I have to go with the obvious dream of Olympic champion, that's one in the future that would be a very big goal of mine," said Backstedt.
"I want to go for Los Angeles 2028, I want to give my everything to be on the start line and go for a podium, that would be pretty cool to do.
"If I hadn't been sick in 2024, I would have liked to have also been on the start line [in Paris], it just wasn't my year.
"That was hard to accept but it just made me hungrier to be on the start line in LA."
