{"id":170157,"date":"2018-08-30T12:51:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T12:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=170157"},"modified":"2018-08-30T12:51:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T12:51:46","slug":"the-organization-committed-to-equality-across-all-disciplines-of-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/08\/30\/the-organization-committed-to-equality-across-all-disciplines-of-cycling\/","title":{"rendered":"The Organization Committed to Equality Across All Disciplines of Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, The Cyclists\u2019 Alliance<\/em>, the first global riders\u2019 association founded by women for women, announced that it will be accepting membership from and representing the interests of women in all disciplines of elite cycling. This is a big step in terms of providing female cyclists with a platform to express solidarity and shows a serious commitment on the part of The Cyclists\u2019 Alliance to address the challenges that exist across the sport as a whole.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

The organization began its mission in December 2017, and until this month, has been focused exclusively on levelling the playing field for women in road cycling. Fighting for rights, opportunities, and economic potential, the project emerged from an ongoing discussion between three women who know the challenges female riders face firsthand. Executive Director Iris Slappendel and Vice Director Carmen Small are former pro riders with dozens of national and UCI wins between them. Communications Director Gracie Elvin, two-time Australian national road champion, is still an active pro cyclist and has been riding with the Orica \u2013 AIS \/ Orica \u2013 Scott team for five years. All three share a passion for the positive progress that is taking place in women\u2019s cycling but also saw the need for an organization that represented the interests of the riders.<\/p>\n

This integrative approach has been much appreciated throughout the community and many riders see this as the organizing platform they need to get their voice heard and start seeing real results. So far, they have invested a lot of resources into assessing riders\u2019 needs and conducting surveys, in addition to building their membership base in order to garner proper recognition from UCI. They are also working on developing standardized contracts and looking to establish minimum working conditions, minimum salary, and team ethics.<\/p>\n

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Iris Slappendel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n