{
  "id": 1882287,
  "title": "Women's cycling could be unstoppable - Backstedt",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/womens-cycling-could-be-unstoppable-backstedt",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-19T06:57:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/womens-cycling-could-unstoppable-backstedt-053109890.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "British cyclist Zoe Backstedt believes that women's cycling could become unstoppable if it receives full television coverage, especially for high-profile events such as the Tour de France Femmes. The 21-year-old Welsh rider made her debut in the TdF Femmes last week, riding for Canyon-SRAM alongside teammate Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, who finished second behind champion Demi Vollering.\n\nBackstedt praised the enthusiasm surrounding the women's Tour de France this year and expressed that the only requirement for improvement is complete coverage of the races. She pointed out that in previous years, the most significant moments were missed due to inadequate broadcasting. Backstedt is confident that once women's cycling receives full coverage, it will be unstoppable.\n\nBackstedt's TdF Femmes debut came after a successful 2026 season, where she won the British road race and time trial titles, a sprint stage at the Tour de Suisse Femmes, and the 2026 Baloise Ladies Tour title. She will be aiming for more success in the upcoming Tour of Britain Women, which starts on Wednesday and will include five stages for the first time, equaling the stage count of the men's race. Backstedt expressed her excitement about the increased coverage in women's cycling and the growing number of Welsh athletes participating in professional cycling events.",
  "summary": "British champion Zoe Backstedt says women's cycling will be \"unstoppable\" if it gets full television coverage for races such as the recent Tour de France Femmes.",
  "key_points": [
    "21-year-old Welsh rider made debut in TdF Femmes, riding for Canyon-SRAM.",
    "Backstedt confident full coverage will make women's cycling unstoppable."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}