British champ Backstedt eyes Tour de France debut

British champ Backstedt eyes Tour de France debutImage source, SWPixImage caption, Zoe Backstedt won 15 gold medals on the road, track and cyclo-cross at junior and under-23 levelPublished21 minutes ago1 CommentsZoe Backstedt is targeting a Tour de France Femmes debut after an "incredible" double title-winning week at the British National Road Championships.First the 21-year-old rider from south Wales successfully defended her elite time-trial crown with a dominant win on Thursday.Then, on Sunday, the multiple world junior champion won her first British road race title with an equally emphatic victory in Aberystwyth.Backstedt returns to her European base this week, with sights on the Tour de France Femmes' Grand Depart in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 1 August."The next one for me is going to be a race in Belgium," Backstedt told the BBC's Radio Wales Breakfast programme."Then hopefully, as long as everything goes well, I'm hoping to be selected for the Tour de France as well this year."It would be incredible. It's giving me goosebumps already to think about it."Barker reclaims title at National Road ChampionshipsPublished2 days agoDeignan to take sporting director role at GB cyclingPublished2 days agoHer double success on home roads in west Wales capped a memorable 10 days for Backstedt, who had won a sprint stage at the Tour de Suisse Femmes the previous week - her ninth professional victory.The Canyon-Sram rider's 15.9 mile (25.6km) time-trial victory in Ceredigion was delivered in sweltering conditions in excess of 30C, with Backstedt noting afterwards, "It was super hard, the heat made it 10 times harder than I think I expected it to be".Thankfully, by Sunday's 79.5 mile (128km) road race, temperatures had dropped, as she left a chasing group to catch and pass early leader Josie Knight before soloing the final 8.6 miles (14km) to win by almost two minutes."It was brutal," said Back...