Magnus Bäckstedt: Cuddly lions and cobblestones

Photo by Andy Jones.

The 2021 Friends of the Podcast series

If ever a rider was built for Paris-Roubaix it was Magnus Bäckstedt. Since turning professional and seeing the cobblestones for the first time, he dreamed of conquering the Hell of the North.

But, like the journey from Compiègne to the velodrome, Bäckstedt's journey was far from smooth. There were a couple of years when he and his team didn't even make it to the start line of his favourite race. But in 2004, everything came together perfectly on the day when Bäckstedt won a four-man sprint to fulfil his dream.

There's more to Bäckstedt's career than Paris-Roubaix, though, and in this conversation with Lionel Birnie he talks about his early days as a downhill skier, his stage win at the 1998 Tour de France, the ups and downs of his career and how he feels about the possibility of his daughters riding Paris-Roubaix one day.

Run time: 1hr 23mins

Photos by Andy Jones.