Zoe Backstedt impressed in her recent Tour de France Femmes debut [Getty Images] British champion Zoe Backstedt says women's cycling will be "unstoppable" if it gets full television coverage for races such as the recent Tour de France (TdF) Femmes. The 21-year-old Welsh rider made her highly anticipated TdF Femmes debut last week, riding for Canyon-SRAM in support of team-mate Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, who finished second behind champion Demi Vollering. "There was a lot of screaming and shouting about the women's Tour de France this year, and it was incredible to see," said Backstedt. "The only thing we need from now on is full coverage line to line." Only three of the nine stages of this year's race were broadcast live in their entirety. Backstedt contends that on a number of days, the key moments were "already done by the time the coverage happened". "Then you can't watch us racing - you can't watch us being our best and showing off the best part of the race," she added. "I think once we finally get full coverage of the race, then we're going to be unstoppable, 100%." Backstedt's TdF Femmes debut followed exceptional performances throughout 2026. She had already won British road race and time trial titles plus a sprint stage at the Tour de Suisse Femmes, and retained the 2026 Baloise Ladies Tour title a year after becoming the youngest winner of the race. On Wednesday, she will target more success when the 2026 Tour of Britain Women begins, as she aims to use her TdF Femmes experience to good effect. Backstedt delivered a standout ride in the time trial on stage four but missed out on the podium after finishing a close fourth, just two seconds behind Vollering. "It was maybe not the result I wanted or hoped for," she said. "I have high expectations of myself and I really wanted to do at least a podium. So to say I want a podium but get fourth, it's super close. But it is what it is. It was the legs on the day, and I think coming around to it, it's still a really, really good result."
Backstedt retains Baloise Ladies Tour title Backstedt seals double with road race victory Backstedt 'maybe wouldn't be here' if not for helmet
Backstedt placed 50th overall in the general classification and impressed on the final day, pushing the pace and reducing the peloton to only 11 riders. She had been riding on the front trying to reduce the group and isolate the rivals of Niewiadoma-Phinney, when she felt she had given everything she had. "I got halfway up and I was like, 'I'm done, I'm done - I can't do it anymore'," Backstedt recalled. She then started receiving information from her team that riders behind her were being dropped, which gave her the push she needed to keep going. "They were like 'yeah, you're doing really good, there's people getting dropped here'. I was like, 'oh OK, I will continue'," she said. "I've got three kilometres to the top or something, I can do this. It's going to be less than 10 minutes. Just keep pushing the pedals." Reflecting on the intensity of the second Grand Tour of her career, having previously participated in the 2024 La Vuelta Femenina, Backstedt said: "It was a super-hard week, but honestly, I really enjoyed it. "I'm happy with how I performed the whole week. I learned a lot. I maybe made some mistakes but, most importantly, I gave 120% every day for my team-mates. "I had a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again." Five-stage Tour of Britain 'super cool' Zoe Backstedt and elder sister Elynor have followed father Magnus into the ranks of professional cycling [Getty Images] Backstedt is targeting further elite success in her second appearance in the Tour of Britain Women, which begins in Cumbria and includes two stages in Wales before ending on Sunday, 23 August. For the first time it will feature five stages, achieving full stage-count parity with the men's race. It is a change Backstedt welcomes. "One extra day of racing, it's nice to do a five-day stage race and you can cover a lot more ground of the UK in that time," she said. "And then to have it equalling the men's race is also super nice. We are moving in a very good direction in women's sport." Commonwealth Games medallists Anna Morris and Jess Roberts will also compete in the Tour of Britain for the Great Britain Cycling Team, following their recent success on the track in Glasgow. Both Welsh riders won bronze in the team pursuit, while Morris added two gold medals and Roberts took silver in the points race. "As Welsh athletes we've got a lot of people coming through and that's a super exciting thing to think about, about how many young Welsh riders are going to be in the peloton in the next few years," said Backstedt. Tarling tragedy 'hit hard' Backstedt has acknowledged the need for greater safety in cycling following the tragic death of her compatriot Finlay Tarling during the eighth stage of the Volta a Portugal last Friday. The 19-year-old NSN Cycling rider died following a high-speed collision with a van which had strayed on to the closed road on the 166.8km route from Melgaco to Fafe. "It's super sad and I'm thinking every day of the Tarling family," said Backstedt, who has previously backed the wearing of helmets by cyclists. "Growing up we were quite close with them, so when I heard the news it really hit hard and I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through. "But the support I've seen online towards them and from so many different cyclists around the world, I really hope that they're feeling the love that the cycling community is giving. Everyone is thinking of them at this time. "As cyclists, we never want to see anything like this happen and it's awful almost how often it's happening at the moment. Something maybe needs to change to have this stop."
Tarling death shows risks of smaller races - Vaughters 'Fury' at Tarling death as cycling union calls for better helmets Tarling family heartbroken as riders pay tribute to British cyclist