Backstedt to make Tour de France Femmes debut

Backstedt to make Tour de France Femmes debutImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Zoe Backstedt won 15 gold medals on the road, track and cyclo-cross at junior and under-23 levelPublished3 minutes agoCommentsBritish champion Zoe Backstedt has been selected to ride in her first Tour de France Femmes.The 21-year-old Welsh rider has been one of Canyon-SRAM's most impressive performers of late and will support Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney's bid for a second title.The Tour's Grand Depart is in Lausanne, Switzerland on 1 August.Speaking last month, Backstedt said making the Tour would be "incredible" and that she had "goosebumps" just thinking about it.Her selection follows a memorable June, during which she won British road race and time trial titles and a sprint stage at the Tour de Suisse Femmes.And then last week Backstedt retained the 2026 Baloise Ladies Tour title a year after becoming the youngest winner of the race.British champion Backstedt eyes Tour de France debutPublished29 JuneBackstedt is not to be the first member of her family to ride a Tour de France.Father Magnus rode cycling's most prestigious Grand Tour seven times between 1998 and 2008 - winning a stage on his own Le Tour debut.Her old sister Elynor is also a professional rider with UAE Team ADQ, while her mum Meg was a British road race champion."It really runs in the family to be a cyclist," said Backstedt."We always had the choice to go into different sports but everything just led towards cycling and, in the end, I'm so happy that I pursued it."Related topicsCycling