How do you react when you’re told you’ll be racing the Tour de France for the first time? For Zoe Backstedt, “When you get the phone call to say that you’ve been selected, it’s like, OK, don’t scream. You can scream after you’ve put the phone down.”
The 21-year-old beams as she recounts the moment on video call with The Independent, a couple of days before her debut at the biggest race on the calendar. An electric first half of the season, including defending her title at the Baloise Ladies Tour, top-five finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders, and the clean sweep of British national road and time-trial crowns, means the Welshwoman is full of confidence heading to the start line in Lausanne this weekend.
