Equality in Women’s Cyling

Equality

Women and men are both integral components of the club.  Everybody is welcome within Bristol Road Club, whatever your sex, ethnicity, background or age.  We believe in equal opportunity and aim to be inclusive.

Unfortunately in cycling there are still inequalities.  All races do not provide equal prize money and recognition between the men and women.  At a professional level women’s cycling does not receive the same television coverage and the number of UCI races is less in number with significantly less prize money (and consequently the salary of professional women cyclists is a fraction of the male).  25% of professional women cyclists received no salary in 2020.

It is also recognised that BAME riders constitute a lower proportion of cyclists, particularly in the professional peloton.

Local Bristol rider, Alice Thomson, is one of a growing number of cyclists calling out on this misogynistic practice, and she recently gained thousands of signatures on her open letter to CTT (Cycling Time Trials) asking for equity to be enshrined in their rules.  On an international scale, The Cyclists Alliance is an independent Union which strives for fairness for professional women cyclists and to provide them with holistic support throughout their careers.

Within BRC, we believe that we have embraced equality.  All prizes are equal.  This includes the road race (A bridge too far) and the club annual awards.  Group rides are inclusive. However, if there are areas in which you think we can do better, please let us know.

Racing

The women’s UCI racing has a growing calendar of events.  Sadly not all are televised, but the GCN app does do a reasonable job of covering the races that are.  

The site www.voxwomen.com is an excellent platform about the professional scene.  Sign up to the weekly email which keeps you updated on everything happening in professional international cycling.

If you are interested in racing yourself there are plenty of local opportunities for novice or experienced racing cyclists.  These range from joining the BRC team in the Cotswold league for road races, racing circuits at Odd Down (Bath) and Castle Combe, time trials, hill climbs and Zwift racing.  Time trials and hill climbs are a great place to start if you are new to racing as you can get a feel for if you would enjoy the competitive element, before committing to a road or circuit race.  BRC do have a very strong Zwift race team, topping the local league’s first two rounds of 2020.

We have some former national women racers in the club, who are very willing to help support those who are interested in, but new to racing. So just ask and we will happily link you up.