Zoe Backstedt: ‘Paris Roubaix is a race that you hate in the moment – but it’s my favourite’

Paris-Roubaix is a bike race which rewards guile and experience, one for the battle-hardened pro rather than the wide-eyed youngster. Zoe Backstedt in some ways is both . At 21 she is among the peloton’s younger contingent – but she has an additional weapon in her arsenal: a family history of Paris-Roubaix going back more than 20 years.

Her father, Magnus Backstedt, took the biggest win of his career in the famous Roubaix velodrome in 2004; Zoe and older sister and fellow cyclist Elynor grew up re-watching, analysing and celebrating his race. “It's in the family to enjoy this race and to have a special connection to it,” the younger Backstedt tells The Independent over video call, a few days before the 2026 edition . “For me part of it is following what he's done, and one day I would also like to have a cobblestone to go next to his.

” Magnus’ iconic cobblestone prize lives on a bookshelf in the Backstedt family living room, and his success means that Zoe not only knows the ins and outs of the race – it means she’s aware of what it feels like to lift the trophy, too. “I tell you, if you try and lift it above your head after a race, I don't think I could do it,” she grins. “[The shelf] now has a dip in it, because it's just that heavy.

” Magnus raced Paris-Roubaix eight times over the course of his career and has been imparting his wisdom ever since. “He's told me every single story there is to tell about this race, about every single edition that he's done, that it was dry, wet, different changes in the course, he knows everything. He knows where every single pothole is on the course, he could tell you literally to a T.