BUILD THE ATHLETE FIRST

Far from being one-trick pedalling machines, the world’s best cyclists are consummate all-round athletes. You too should build a broad base of skills, urges Chris Sidwells Photos Daniel Gould, GettyImages

Zoe Bäckstedt is the brightest rising star of British cycling. She won gold in last month’s junior women’s road race at the World Championships in Flanders, as well as silver in the time trial. Before that, in August 2021, the teenager set an unoffiial world record for the 2,000-metre pursuit – two minutes 16.9 seconds – at the junior nationals in Glasgow. As if that were not enough, in the first week of October, Bäckstedt was in the Netherlands winning the junior Superprestige cyclo-cross in Gieten. All of this and she has only just turned 17.

Road, track, cyclo-cross, there’s nothing Zoe Bäckstedt can’t do. Comments made by her father, Swedish former pro and 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Bäckstedt, relating to his daughter’s extraordinary athletic versatility prompted me to wonder whether too many cyclists are stuck in training habits that are too narrow and highly specialised. Might it be better to emulate Zoe and put more emphasis on building the athlete first? A series of photos on Facebook showed the teenager training in the gym lifting weights, riding cyclo-cross, mountain bike, road races and time trials. I got in touch with Magnus to find out more. “We have a new way of planning and working that focuses a lot more on strength and building an all-round athlete who is more robust, and linking good nutrition to cope with the demands of training,” he told me.