Paris-Roubaix 'never gets easier' says Zoe Bäckstedt after supporting teammates Dygert and Consonni to top 10s

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto were very visible in Paris-Roubaix Femmes with Chloé Dygert, Chiara Consonni, and Zoe Bäckstedt all finishing in the top 15. Dygert in particular had been at the front of the race, closing gaps time and again – but in the final, the US rider was mainly at the back of the chase group, and for a good reason.

“I’m a little sick, I have stomach issues. It started on the road, I got some bloating problems, but all good,” Dygert told Cyclingnews after getting up from the grass inside the track of the Roubaix velodrome where she had laid down after finishing.

“It’s always irritating when something goes wrong. But I have leg issues and everything else, I’m not going to complain. It’s just something I have to live with now, you know. I just go day by day and take it as it comes, and some days are frustrating more than others, but that’s just how it is. 

"I just got to be thankful that I’m still racing my bike,” the 28-year-old put things into perspective, referring mainly to her horrendous injuries sustained in a crash at the 2020 World Championships in the individual time trial.

Dygert had been the one to bring a group of four back to the front with 50km to go and closed the gap twice when Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) attacked. After Consonni and Bäckstedt came back from behind as part of a larger group, it was again Dygert and her teammates who led the chase behind Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek) and eventual winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) – until Dygert’s digestive troubles got in the way.

“There were some crashes, some things that got in the way, so there was a lot of chasing going on. And towards the end, that’s when my stomach just started not agreeing with me, so it was more just hanging on, yeah … We’re trying to dial in the nutrition side of things, carbs and the ratio, and sometimes it just doesn’t mix well,” Dygert explained before saying she would be back again next year.

Dygert’s teammate Zoe Bäckstedt was happy that the race was over, having seen crashes and punctures all around her, but escaping misfortune herself.

“Right now, I feel super happy to be at the finish line. The first 60km was a lot of carnage. I think everyone was just nervous to hit that first sector. Crashes, left, right, and centre, I was riding through people that punctured and all of this stuff and I’m like, come on, everything is going smooth. 

"I made it to the finish line OK. I got dropped on that second-to -ast sector, and it wasn’t my strongest moment there. But yeah, I’m really happy with it,” said the 20-year-old after her 15th-place finish.

Bäckstedt had been part of a group around Ferrand-Prévot that was chasing the front group with Dygert for a long time, eventually returning to the front with 36km to go. And she acted the consummate domestique, putting her own ambitions aside to support Dygert, as well as Consonni, who would finish 15 seconds behind the American in 10th.

“It was a situation of, what can I do for Chloe, because she’s not had anyone in the group to help her. Can I get her water bottles, ice, anything, cola from the car? What can I do to help her keep fresh, you know. Same with Conso [Chiara Consonni], just trying to cool them down in this heat and do whatever I can to make their race as easy as possible,” Bäckstedt explained.

Her father Magnus Bäckstedt won the men’s Paris-Roubaix in 2004 – five months before Zoe’s birthday – so the French Classic has always had a prominent place in the family. But even with a pedigree like that, the race is still incredibly hard.

“Oh, it never gets easier. This year I’ve come out quite nicely with just one small, blister. But it’s still just as hard as ever. That's why it’s called the Hell of the North,” finished Zoe Bäckstedt.

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