Zoe Beckstedt will step up to this year's Women's World Tour in August, switching from the blue kit of Belgian cyclocross development team Akrog Tormans to the pink kit of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB.

The 17-year-old, a current junior road and cyclocross world champion, will ride for the team as a trainee, with the team's approach of racing on a full road calendar, although racing on dirt and gravel is part of her appeal.

"I am very excited to be joining the Women's WorldTour team EF Education-TIBCO-SVB as a trainee. I love their multi-disciplinary approach to cycling," Beckstedt said in a team statement. Beckstedt finished the 2021-2022 cyclocross season with 10 wins, adding the Cyclocross European Women's Junior Championship to her World Championship wins.

On the road, she not only out-sprinted her breaking companion to win the rainbow stripe last year, but also won the individual time trial stage of the Watersley Ladies Challenge and this season the EPZ Omloop van Borsle to win the overall and two of the three stages. On the track, she won gold medals in the individual pursuit, team pursuit, and Madison at the 2021 European Junior Track Championships.

She will continue to run in Akrog Tormans through August.

"I am so grateful to Akrog Tormans for all the help they have given me over the past few years. I will continue to run on the road for them in the coming months and hope to achieve good results before stepping into the World Tour," Beckstedt said in an Instagram post.

Bäckstedt is the youngest rider in the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, which also includes American cyclocross champion Clara Honsinger and fellow Britons Lizzy Banks and Abi Smith, another Briton. His sister Elinor belongs to Trek-Segafredo, his mother Megan Hughes is a former British road champion, and his father Magnus Beckstedt is a Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour de France stage winner.

"As the current junior world champion in both road and cyclocross, Zoe is clearly very talented," said Hughes. Our goal is to support her overall development and nurture her growing talent." I am very excited about what we can accomplish together."