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For Welsh fans, the arrival of the tour offers a chance to watch a strong contingent of homegrown riders racing alongside some of the sports biggest names, including 2024 winner and two-time world champion, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx – Protime).<\/p>\n
Among the Welsh headliners is British champion Zoe Backstedt who goes into stage 3 in 51st, 2 minutes 48 seconds behind leader, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx – Protime).<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old is competing less than three weeks on from making her highly anticipated Tour de France (TdF) Femmes debut, where she finished 50th overall.<\/p>\n
Racing on home roads will offer Backstedt another exciting opportunity to build on what has already been a successful season. <\/p>\n
The Canyon-SRAM rider has 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.<\/p>\n
And she has her elder sister, Elynor Backstedt who rides for UAE Team L’IMAD, for company, making this year’s race a family affair, with their father Magnus also taking on a sport director role for Human Powered Health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n