Magnus Backstedt shows off the UK Youth team kit.(Image credit: Adam Tranter / Fusion Media)
Magnus Backstedt wins the sprint in 2004(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Magnus Backstedt was confident before the start of his first Soens.(Image credit: Chris Keller-Jackson)
Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream) at the start looking optimistic(Image credit: John Pierce/Photosport International)
Magnus Backstedt works in support of the team.(Image credit: Chris Keller-Jackson)
The weather at the Giro d'Italia has made it "really tough for everyone, there's been horrible weather pretty much every day," Magnus Bäckstedt told Cyclingnews in an exclusive video. The Swede, who won Paris-Roubaix and one stage at the Tour de France during his long career, said that Vincenzo Nibali looks "solid" in the race.
Although "we've done Giros in the past where there's been pretty horrible weather," he acknowledged that "I think this is probably the worst spring that I've seen in the history of cycling, as long as I can remember anyway."
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) "looks very solid in the pink jersey," but Bäckstedt was not ready to concede him the overall victory. "You know the final week is where it's all happening here. Every Grand Tour is like that - if you're going to crack, then you're likely to crack in the last week or the last couple of mountaintop finishes."
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