Rumours of Backstedt's retirement premature

Following a solid performance in last week's Paris Roubaix, where he was in the main chase group with winner Stuart O'Grady until a mechanical knocked him out of contention, Magnus Backstedt has found himself having to deny rumours of his imminent retirement. "Lots of rumours started appearing in the French media last Saturday regarding my alleged retirement from the sport. Maybe they were confusing me with Lars Michaelsen who did retire on Sunday, but it is not true"

Backstedt fought his way back from a severe shoulder separation which required surgery, then more surgery to remove the hardware which was limiting his mobility, but despite having raced a limited number of races, Backstedt remains optimistic about his season. "Yes, to go through what I have in the last year there is no way I would even remotely consider retiring now. I'm more fired up than ever!

"My speciality is the Classics, and I believe I can carry on for many years to come. Maybe the 2012 Olympics in London would be a nice point to stop" he concluded.