Bäckstedt back training

After suffering the misfortune of a broken right clavicle just before the end of stage five of the Tour of Qatar last week, Magnus Bäckstedt showed his Viking strength and spirit just days afterward when he resumed training.

Only a few hours after lifting himself off the tarmac in the desert, the big Swede was on a flight back to the United Kingdom, where he went under the surgeon's knife to repair the damage. Now with a scar to match his left shoulder and still nursing the other cuts and bruises from hitting the deck at high speed, Bäckstedt is back to training.

With his major objective still Paris Roubaix on the second Sunday in April, the Slipstream-Chipotle rider took his first ride on the turbo trainer Monday.

"Its a setback, but only that. Not a disaster. When your life is spent at the head of the race coming into sprints like the one in Qatar, these things happen," said Bäckstedt. "You can't race scared. If you have fear, then you may as well pack up and go home.

"I'll never change the way I race."

Looking ahead, the obviously motivated rider said, "As far as my collarbone is concerned, I am comfortable enough to be able to start on the turbo and believe me, I'll be fit for Roubaix."