Kicking off the 2023 classics season

Though just 18-years-old, Zoe Bäckstedt has already built up a remarkable palmarès. At the 2022 World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, she won the junior time trial in a commanding fashion, edging out her nearest rival by over 90 seconds on the 14.1-kilometer course. Just a few days later, on her 18th birthday no less, she successfully defended her title as junior road race world champion.

Her Wollongong results, in addition to her titles of world champion in the Madison and cyclocross, make her the first rider in the history of professional cycling to hold four world champion titles simultaneously.

Between the road and cyclocross, Zoe races in EF Education-TIBCO-SVB pink year round. She joined EF Education-TIBCO-SVB mid-way through 2022 as a trainee with the goal of gaining experience and learning to adjust to the longer races at the elite level. In her first race with the team, she helped the squad win the opening team time trial and wore the best young rider’s jersey for the following stage.

For most riders, the off season is a time to slow down, but that wasn’t the case with Zoe. She packed up her childhood bedroom in Wales and moved to Belgium in order to be closer to her cyclocross training ground and races. She raced once or twice a week through most of the cyclocross season. In Nommay, Zoe finished second, standing alongside her road and CX teammate Clara Honsinger on the podium.

Bikes have been part of Zoe’s family for as long as she can remember. Her dad won Paris-Roubaix, her mom is a former British champion, and her sister also races in the WorldTour so perhaps it was inevitable that she would become a cyclist. However, before she turned pro, she grew up juggling netball, tennis, and cycling and ultimately opted to stick with cycling when training sessions began to overlap.

Outside of cycling, Zoe’s main passions are following Formula 1 and binge watching Marvel and Avengers films.

Lauren Stephens is the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB veteran. The former math teacher turned professional cyclist with the team in 2013, and has raced with the team for all but one season of her career.

Name a type of riding and odds are that Lauren has raced it — and at an elite level. She wrapped up the 2022 season by racing the marathon mountain bike world championships in Denmark, the road world championships in Australia, and the inaugural gravel world championships in Italy. The 2021 road US national champion, Lauren placed third in both the road and time trial at the US national championships the following year.

When she was in high school, Lauren used to spend her summers riding her mountain bike 18-20 miles on the road, a distance she thought was crazy at the time. She never imagined that riding would become her career (or that 20 miles would seem like a short ride!).

Lauren is an all-rounder who can climb, chase down breakaways, and time trial. She loves to get off road and is an avid gravel rider. She has twice won the 100 mile distance at Unbound Gravel.

As much as she loves to explore the world, she calls her home roads in Texas her favorite place to ride. She and her husband have made it an annual tradition to bikepack to their family’s house for Thanksgiving, always picking a new route that covers a few hundred miles.

Lauren says that her results come from steadily chipping away at her goals each season and from a high level of motivation combined with a healthy dose of stubbornness.

Sara Poidevin grew up immersed in athletics. The Canadian hails from Canmore, Alberta, a high caliber athlete mecca. Surrounded by cross country skiers and mountain bikers, Sara rode recreationally with her family for a few years before growing more interested in mountain bike racing during high school.

Sara started training on a road bike in the winter, in an effort to keep up her fitness for mountain biking, and quickly discovered that she was better on the road than in the dirt. She raced on the road with her provincial team and then a local club in Calgary, balancing cycling with scholastics as she pursued her exercise and health physiology degree.

A professional racer since 2016, last season was a year of firsts for Sara – first time changing teams, first year living abroad, first season on a WorldTour team. In 2022, she raced more days than in any other season which provided her with ample opportunities to learn and grow.

Kathrin Hammes began her professional career with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, racing for the American squad from 2015-2017. After four seasons with various teams, she calls her second go-round with the team a return to her roots.

She started riding at age 17 thanks to a family friend. Riding soon led to racing and racing led to a stage win at Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche while competing on a composite team. This win, which happened shortly after Kathrin submitted her master’s degree thesis in sociology, was the catalyst for signing with the team.

On the bike, Kathrin is a hard working domestique who never hesitates to support and protect her teammates. She loves a long climb and frequently rides up Schauinsland, a mountain in the Black Forest.

The German favors her home roads in and around Freiburg for training, climbing and racing. While many of her teammates prefer the warmer climates of Spain and the south of France as their in-season residence, Kathrin remains in Germany throughout the year. Her favorite races are the Ardennes Classics and tough stage races like the Giro d’Italia Donne which she has raced four times.

Letizia Borghesi has been racing bikes for half her life. The 23-year-old pinned on her first number when she was 12. After hearing stories from her dad about his wins as a U23 racer, she thought to herself, “I could do that,” and she took up cycling. While injuries prevented her dad from turning professional, Letizia has achieved what he was unable to. Her family is very supportive of her athletic career and she says that growing up in an active household helped her to develop a strong sports mentality. You can often find Letizia’s parents at the races, having driven from their home in northern Italy to support their daughter.

In 2022, her first season with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, Letizia earned a pair of top ten finishes in the spring classics and gained plenty of experience racing at the WorldTour level. Her stage win at the 2019 Giro Rosa is Letizia’s biggest result to date. It came down to a head-to-head sprint after spending the day in the breakaway and Letizia managed to pull off the win just on the finish line.

Growing up in the mountains of northern Italy, Letizia is happiest when she is outside. She adores her home region of Trentino and you can often find her hiking to nearby lakes when she’s not training on the road. In the off season, Letizia enjoys competing in the local cyclocross races. Given her experience in cyclocross, it’s not a surprise that her favorite races are the cobbled classics because she loves the steep climbs and is used to the harsh weather conditions.

Letizia completed her bachelor’s degree in sports science and she is currently studying for her master’s degree in biology/nutrition.