Return of the Viking!

Magnus (‘Maggy’) Backstedt had a glittering 13 year pro career, in which he can count a stage of the Tour De France and a victory in the Paris-Roubaix to his accomplishments. Magnus retired from professional racing in 2009, due mainly to recurring injuries caused from a series of crashes. The former Swedish National Road Race Champion, has also become a familiar voice on Eurosport and Cycling.tv during his retirement as well as creating Sprocket Pro Cycling Team last season. But the peloton called!  For 2011 Maggy agreed to come out of retirement to lead the team ‘UK Youth’, which aims “to inspire the young people of Britain that anyone can achieve their dreams with a lot of determination and support from those around them”.

For anyone following Maggy on twitter you will see the dedicated preparation he has put into his return, which started last Sunday at the English season opener ‘the Perfs’.

After being in the thick of the action and covering most of the moves all day, he finished a very credible 10th. We caught up with him, when he caught his breath:

Did you like it or love being back in the bunch?
I loved being back in the peloton again. Weather was a bit shocking but I still had a great time.

Were there any pre-race nerves or a full night sleep?
I can’t really say I had any nerves. So full nights sleep wasn’t an issue.

What race food had you in the pockets?
To be honest I didn’t bring any food. I had a couple of CLIF blocks but that was it. The race was too short to bring the whole buffet.

Was there a team plan?
We did have a team plan, it went 50% right. Couple of mechanicals made us lose 2 key players.

Is your power output down much from the seasons off?
The power is there, I haven’t used any power measurement in my comeback, but my guess is that I’m not that far off where I used to be.

Do you feel 20, 30 or 50 this morning?
Feeling after the race is about 30 (a good age)

Is the goal victories or  awareness for UKYouth’s work?
Obviously we want to win and that will bring UK Youth out there as well. The important thing is the message of the fantastic work UK Youth do.

Team site: http://www.teamukyouth.co.uk/site/index.php

Thanks to Magnus for his continued support for Bike Pure and we wish him every success this season, both as a returning racer and his UK Youth mission.