Road World Championships 2021 - 'Tears running down my face' - Magnus Backstedt on comms after daughter Zoe wins gold

ByEurosport

Published 25/09/2021 at 14:56 GMT

Zoe Backstedt secured gold in the Women’s junior road race at the World Championships. It left her father Magnus, on commentary for Eurosport, in tears in a hugely emotional moment. You can watch the 2021 UCI Road World Championships live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now.

'Tears running down my face' - Magnus Backstedt on Eurosport comms after daughter Zoe wins gold

Zoe Backstedt claimed a stunning gold in the women’s junior road race at the World Championships in Flanders, and it left her father, former pro-cyclist Magnus Backstedt, in tears on commentary for Eurosport.

The 17-year-old rider made a move on the third lap of the five-lap 15km Leuven circuit along with USA’s Kaia Schmid.

Backstedt and Schmid worked together and had over a minute’s advantage on the final lap, leaving the GB rider the opportunity to sprint to a stunning victory to claim gold.

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Her father Magnus, working as a co-commentator for Eurosport, fell silent before gathering his thoughts, saying:

Super proud moment! Tears running down my face watching this! Wow! You can see how much it means to her!

Pure emotion: Zoe Backstedt wins gold, dad Magnus collapses with emotion

Backstedt herself, who won silver in the time trial, told Eurosport that it was her most difficult race ever and showered her team-mates with praise.

“I have no words at all,” Backstedt said on Eurosport. “I can’t believe I've just done that, it’s probably the hardest race I have ever done.

“I was just trying to keep us moving and keep us away from the group behind.

I knew I had team-mates in the group and my three other team-mates would be able to help try and get the gap out a little more.

“Once it was about 30 seconds I knew I could hold it.

“We kept communicating and said keep pushing and get ourselves to the line and sprint it out and see what happens. We did that. It came down to a sprint and I just had it.”