Welsh cyclist Zoe Backstedt has retained her Baloise Ladies Tour title, successfully defending the crown she won a year earlier when she became the race's youngest-ever champion. The 21-year-old, who has also enjoyed success in cyclo-cross, sealed the overall victory with a strong showing across the multi-stage race, underlining her rise as one of Britain's leading young talents on the road.

Backstedt's performance included a time trial win on stage 3A on Saturday, and she finished with a provisional overall time of 11 hours 27.08 minutes. The battle for the remaining podium spots was extremely tight, with just one second separating the Netherlands' Nienke Veenhoven, who won the final stage, from Australia's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden; they finished 22 and 23 seconds behind Backstedt respectively. England's Millie Couzens finished fifth, behind the Netherlands' Charlotte Kool.