Bäckstedt hopes for good luck at Vuelta

Magnus Bäckstedt heads into his final race of 2006 hoping for some better luck in a year that he would rather forget. The tall Swede spent most of the year out with injury and fought his way back only to encounter more bad luck.

With his form coming on in leaps and bounds, Bäckstedt was hoping for some opportunities to test out his sprinting legs at the Eneco Tour. But on stage two, a member of the Phonak team fell into his back wheel which took him out as the leaders put the hammer down at the front and split the field.

With what he described as magic legs on Saturdays third stage, he then hit a hole in the road to double flat both tyres going into the final corner. "Manuel Quinziato was leading me out, I moved slightly and just bam! Both tyres! I unclipped my foot and managed to stay upright. I'm now hoping that all my bad luck is behind me and I can finally record some good results," Bäckstedt said.

Finishing the Vuelta is vital to his goal of regaining the strength for another crack at his beloved northern classics in 2007. "Three weeks of racing in my legs going into the winter is vital to my preparation for the classics. Roubaix as always is my number one priority. I will also spend the winter on the track in the world cups and hopefully a couple of six days."

When asked about another possible attempt on the 'World Derny Paced Hour Record', Bäckstedt replied, "Yes, I really want that record and we are working on bringing the sponsors in for another crack at it, possibly in November."