In early January, Zoe Backstedt was on a phenomenal roll, winning UCI junior races in Dendermonde, Namur, the World Cup in Tabor, the European Championships, the Superprestige in Gieten, and the elite race in Essen.

She was dominant on hilly courses and flat races, in the dry and in ankle-deep mud, and was everyone's top contender for the title at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in the US. And so COVID-19 began.

Her momentum was cut short when she missed the British National Championships and the Flamanville World Cup due to an infection and lost the series overall to Leonie Bentveld (Netherlands). However, being young and without serious symptoms, she quickly returned and trained for Fayetteville.

"I had to take a couple of days off the bike. But it's more important to me to be healthy and to make sure I don't have any heart problems or COVID effects than to get back on the bike and race as soon as possible," Backstedt told Virtual Media in an interview from her hotel in Arkansas.

In hindsight, not being affected by COVID was a bit of an advantage, as she had just recovered and was less likely to be reinfected. Although half of the Italian team and several Belgian players had to miss the event because of the positive virus, Backstedt said she was less stressed.

"The situation was bad enough that I had to miss the All-Japan Championships and the last round of the World Cup, but it was better for me because I still had two weeks of training and it was less stressful. I don't have to go to a PCR test or lateral flow test to see if it is positive or not, or to get a surprise result. In that sense, I'm a little more relaxed. It ruined my season a little bit."

Backstedt came to the U.S. early enough to adjust to the time zone and do some training rides, but she refrained from previewing the course before trying it out as a pre-race routine.

"My normal routine is to go the day before," she said, adding that she would pre-ride on Friday.

"From what I've seen in pictures and the World Cup at the start of the season, I think this course is right for me. I'm really looking forward to it and I think it will be a good battle."

The 17-year-old Backstedt is part of a generation of players whose junior years were greatly affected by the cancellation of Coronavirus; in the 2020-2021 season she won the only Junior World Cup in Tabor and played mainly in the elite class. In the summer, she won the Junior Tour of Yorkshire and took the world title in the road race and second in the time trial.

Her road power was also on display in the early cross races, finishing second behind Belgian champion Sanne Canto in Muehlbeke and winning in Gieten. With good weather in the forecast for Saturday's race, she is counting on the leg power that won her the Flanders World Championships.

"If the course is quite dry, it will be like a crit. I think it will be a very fun race. I want to have a good battle with the Dutch girls.

"I think this weekend it's just about going full throttle, seeing how deep you can go, how many people you can hurt, and taking it as it comes.

Backstedt comes from a cycling family, her father still supports her racing and is a commentator for Eurosport, and her sister Elinor races for Trek Segafredo. Despite her family's enthusiasm and the high expectations of her country, Backstedt is focused on enjoying racing.

"We're trying to stay calm and focus on the weekend," she says, but her father is taking a hands-off approach. 'On race day he's there for me in the pits. He's there for me in the pits on race day, and he's someone I can trust to give me the right bike. He is always in the pits, even in the middle of the race, giving me advice. I just have to stay calm, do what I have to do, have fun, enjoy it, and it will work out.

Although she had to miss a couple of weeks of competition, Backstedt is keenly aware of her rivals, especially her Dutch nemesis. Bentfeldt was really strong this season," she said. I had some good battles with her and obviously she won the World Cup overall. Bentveld has been really strong this season and I've had some good battles with her. She has been really strong all season long."

"She has been really strong all season long.

The weather has been dry all week and will continue to be dry, but the course is not as dry as many expect.

"Maybe if the course was like that it would have suited me. 'It got down to minus 4 degrees overnight and I think it will be 6 degrees by the time we start. Hopefully the ground will be frozen, soft, a little muddy, and a little slippery on the course. To be honest, all conditions suit me. Honestly, any conditions suit me.

This World Championships was Backstedt's first and only title match as a junior after the race was cancelled due to the 2021 amateur sports pandemic regulations. But even though her idol Marianne Bos won her first elite world championship right out of junior, Backstedt has the advantage of a relatively new under-23 women's race, making the next step more manageable.

"I'll probably stay under 23 for a couple of years. Puck (Peeters), Shirin (van Ambrooy), Femme (van Empel) and others are still around and I can move up and still put up a good fight. For now, I'll stay in the under-23 category," she says. But she added that she will be cutting her time there short and putting herself in contention with the elites.

"In the future, hopefully around the end of next season or the season after, I think I will go up in some races. I battle with Sanne Canto a lot. She was one of my great competitors this season. I love racing in the elite category [starting from the second, third, and sometimes fourth rows], it gives me the experience of being up front with the gas pedal fully open. At Boom this year I got a good start and got into a battle with Lucinda [Brando] around the first two corners. She was stronger and managed to get in front of me. Racing in the elites is a lot of fun.

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