Zoe Bäckstedt arrives before the march across the hallowed cobbles of Paris-Roubaix as a co-leader for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto. In the last week alone, she's soared to new heights with her first top 5 finishes at Women's WorldTour one-day races, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders.
This is the sixth edition of the women's Hell of the North, with 33.7km of the 143.1-kilometre test punctuated by 20 sectors of pavé, making it one of the most ruthless rides on the calendar.
So can the U23 women's time trial World Champion conquer the cobbles? She's done it three times before, last setting a career high marker at 15th. Her pedigree says she can do it, as her father, Magnus, won the men's race in 2004. With solid fitness and firm focus, the 21-year-old exuded confidence.
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“I’m having great fun this spring, and I’m enjoying every challenge and every race I’ve been in. It’s a good learning experience for me," Backstedt told Cyclingnews.
"Obviously, the Flanders and Roubaix courses are two very different things, but it’s given me good insights into where my form is at," she added in a team statement.
“I’d love to better my result from last year, but you can’t go in with too many expectations as it’s such an unpredictable race. I always race the best when I’m there to have fun and to show myself, so I’m ready to race my heart out!”
One of the confidence boosters is the solid fortress of teammates who will ride together on Sunday. In fact, all six riders - Bäckstedt, Chiara Consonni, Tiffany Cromwell, Chloé Dygert, Rosa Klöser and Maria Martins - have been in the race before, with Martins appearing four times and Consonni all five years.
Dygert had the fewest race days in the group, but felt she still had great shape to help the team: “As important as it is to be in a good position for this race, it ultimately comes down to fitness. I’m hoping I have enough fitness built up to run a good race.”
Bäckstedt proved across her Spring Classics campaign in Belgium that she has form as well. And while she is the youngest on her team, she noted that experience counted more than age.
“I think age doesn’t matter. It’s more about experience and strengths for particular races. I’m supported by my teammates, just as I support them in other races. We share the responsibility,” she confirmed to Cyclingnews.
New configurations for the women's race include riding on the same day as the men and a new order for the cobbles, including three new ones. With the men racing first, the women's peloton faces an unknown on how the pounding of other riders and another caravan will affect the 17 common sectors they will share en route to the velodrome finish.
Among the three new sectors of cobbles is the four-star, 2.5km Haveluy à Wallers sector at kilometre 52. It includes a sharp 90-degree bend at the halfway point.
It doesn't rattle the nerves for Bäckstedt, however, as this time she noted that the riders can work their way into the four-star punishment, unlike 2025.
"Last year, the first sector was a four-star sector. This year, we have two two-star sectors earlier in the race, before we get to the first four-star sector," she told Cyclingnews. "And then we have back-to-back four-star sectors. It’s going to be really interesting!”
She gave a nod to her teammate Consonni as one of the cards the team has for Sunday. The Italian, proficient in sprints on the road and on the track, has had success at Paris-Roubaix, with a pair of top 10s in 2023 and last year.
"It’s one of the hardest races in the calendar, but I also like that it isn’t just racing – you need to be lucky. And also, we finish in a velodrome, so that’s also why I really like it. I think first, to be there at the end, and maybe to bring back home one stone," Consonni said in a team statement, referring to the chunk of pave given to each winner.
"I think we are a really good team, and we have a lot of options. But first, we need to be there and then go all out in the velodrome."
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