Elynor Backstedt made the perfect start to the final round of the British Cycling | Junior Women’s Road Series with victory in the opening stage of the North West Junior Women’s Tour.
Three days of racing kicked off with a 2.3km prologue time trial on the technically challenging Morecambe promenade where Backstedt dominated proceedings.
Backstedt, of Team Backstedt/Hotchilee was in superb form and despite increasingly strong winds, set a new course best of 3:22, just 0.8 faster than series leader April Tacey, Team 22, in second with Backstedt’s teammate, Amy Monkhouse, rounding off the podium positions.
Both Backstedt and Tacey have had their fair share of disruptions this season due to illness and injury but both were back to their best in Lancashire, laying down markers for the road stages to come over the bank holiday weekend.
It's a winning start for @Team_BHC's @EBackstedt6 in the final round of the @HSBC_UK Junior Women's Road Series as she claims victory in the opening stage of the North West Junior Women's Tour.#JuniorRoadSeries pic.twitter.com/G2w0uZMvu5
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) August 25, 2018
Backstedt has had her injury issues and the youngster admits she questioned her own form heading into the final round.
“I just wanted to make sure I give it everything” she said.
“I tried to give it all in the headwind on the way out, not take too big a risk on the turn and then spin as fast as I could in the tailwind. I wasn’t really sure about my form coming in to this.
“It’s been ok on the track, but I haven’t done much road, but I think I got everything out. I came here just wanting to get some miles in the road in my legs and hopefully get selected for the Road World Championships.”
Results
