{"id":176554,"date":"2020-01-10T08:35:52","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T08:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=176554"},"modified":"2020-01-10T08:35:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T08:35:52","slug":"challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/01\/10\/challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges That Women\u2019s Cycling Will Face in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presenting both opportunities and obstacles, each new calendar year is a chance to evaluate progress made and to think about what else can be accomplished over the next 12 months. For the world of women\u2019s cycling, it looks like 2020 is gearing up to one of the most exciting years in history. With seismic reforms on the horizon, there is much to indicate that strides will be taken which could vastly improve the outlook for women cyclists both present and future. That being said, change of this magnitude doesn\u2019t come easy and there are still many barriers that need to be overcome before we get to where we need to be. Here are some of the things that the women\u2019s cycling community is going to have to tackle this year and how we hope to see it all unfold.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting everyone on board with the new UCI regulations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 2020 season marks the first step towards huge UCI reforms set to be phased in over the coming three years. One element of these changes is that, for the first time in women\u2019s cycling, a\u00a0minimum wage\u00a0will be introduced at the WorldTeam level. This marks a substantial step forward, as women\u2019s cycling has been rightly criticized in the past for the lack of financial and career security it offered to female cyclists. Minimum wages (standard procedure in the men\u2019s peloton) are now being phased in, with salaries of \u20ac15,000 in 2020, \u20ac20,000 in 2021, \u20ac27,500 in 2022, and from 2023, parity with men\u2019s ProTeam, currently around \u20ac30,000. The new requirements also grant holiday time, sickness and maternity cover, pension savings from 2022 and increased prize money.<\/p>\n

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Some teams are more enthusiastic about the changes than others though. Boels-Dolmans, the top-ranked women\u2019s team since 2016, and home to four consecutive road world champions, is notably absent from the list of adoptees. In an\u00a0interview with Cyclingnews, team manager Danny Stam stated that although the team had no problem meeting the minimum wage requirement, they found the additional costs associated with WorldTeam status too burdensome for teams that did not have a corresponding men\u2019s team. Whether or not adjustments will be made in order to adapt to the differing situation of various teams remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Promoting diversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Diversity and representation of minorities continues to be a problem in the world of athletics and society at large. Unfortunately, the top tier of cycling is by no means exempt from these shortcomings. Although in reality the cycling community is a rich collective of so many different kinds of people, the women\u2019s (and men\u2019s) pelotons continue to appear largely homogenous. When it comes to growing the sport and truly bringing the best of women\u2019s cycling to a global stage, it is necessary to reflect this diversity as a more prominent way at the highest levels of competition. There\u2019s a big opportunity here to accelerate development and a large part of it lies in providing resources to cultivate participation in countries that currently have a smaller economy of cycling and help them develop more autonomy.<\/p>\n

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Trinidad and Tobago’s Teniel Campbell competes during the Lima 2019 Pan-American Games.\u00a0\u00a9 LUKA GONZALES \/ AFP \/ Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is already starting to happen in several cases though and there are definitely some exciting prospects on the horizon. Take Teniel Campbell for example. The 22-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago currently rides for the UCI\u2019s WCC team and has qualified as her country\u2019s first-ever female spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.\u00a0The soon-to-be Olympian told Vox Women, \u201cI want to bring so much to the sport and contribute to the growth of it in my country and worldwide.\u201d Let\u2019s hope to see more stories like this in the coming year.<\/p>\n

Seeing women in management positions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Speaking of diversity, we\u2019d also like to see more women in decision-making positions at the sport\u2019s most prominent governing bodies. Having more women in the boardroom will naturally lead to more dialogue around gender equality, diversity, and simply contribute to a more well-rounded approach to how the sport is managed. By its very nature, diversity produces a more holistic analysis of issues within an organization, and by bringing together varied perspectives there\u2019s no doubt that greater effort will be invested in promoting women\u2019s cycling.<\/p>\n

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As Tracey Gaudry, UCI Management Committee Member, told Bicycling Australia, \u201cSince I joined UCI nearly seven years ago there\u2019s been a lot of heavy lifting to drive more gender diverse dialogue inside the boardroom. Getting that big gear turning is hard work, it\u2019s been extremely exhausting but also very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional television coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Oft-lamented due to its central role in boosting the sport, media coverage continues to be of top concern for those looking to advance women\u2019s cycling. Sponsors want return on investment, which comes from getting viewers, readers and listeners. It\u2019s a self-perpetuating cycle, and with more money, more can be invested in growing the sport. This is what women\u2019s cycling needs and in fact, there is more and more evidence to support the fact that cycling, as a whole, would greatly benefit (bigger audience, more sponsors) if women\u2019s races were put on equal footing with men\u2019s races. The Colorado Classic made this a top priority last year, while switching to a women\u2019s only race, and we hope to see more events follow suit.<\/p>\n

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The 2019 Colorado Classic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Becoming more sustainable<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As the bicycling industry looks towards ways of reducing its carbon footprint, women\u2019s cycling is in a unique position to improve upon the men\u2019s model when it comes to becoming greener. This includes things like using electric cars and motorbikes for race convoys, creating official green zones for waste, and using biodegradable water bottles. As the UCI works to make sustainability a priority, there is an opportunity for women\u2019s cycling to prove themselves trailblazers when it comes to making cycling a more environmentally conscious sport.<\/p>\n

All that said, in order to overcome these challenges \u2014 it\u2019s going to take the work and support of people both within and outside of the women\u2019s cycling community. This is such an exciting time for the sport and the next few years are critical. Let\u2019s keep the discussion going and continue to find new ways to mobilize the momentum and improve upon the strides made thus far. Here\u2019s to looking back on 2020 as the year women\u2019s cycling really came into its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presenting both opportunities and obstacles, each new calendar year is a chance to evaluate progress made and to think about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":176557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329,334],"tags":[3829,3828,538,2873],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-176554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","category-socialising-and-culture","tag-cycling-equality","tag-uci-regulations","tag-women-cycling","tag-women-cycling-legends","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nChallenges That Women\u2019s Cycling Will Face in 2020 - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Presenting both opportunities and obstacles, each new calendar year is a chance to evaluate progress made and to think about what else can be accomplished\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/01\/10\/challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Challenges That Women\u2019s Cycling Will Face in 2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Presenting both opportunities and obstacles, each new calendar year is a chance to evaluate progress made and to think about what else can be accomplished\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/01\/10\/challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-10T08:35:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2020\/01\/Sanne-Cant-CVR-profimedia-0490351606.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Megan Flottorp\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/01\/10\/challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/01\/10\/challenges-that-womens-cycling-will-face-in-2020\/\",\"name\":\"Challenges That Women\u2019s Cycling Will Face in 2020 - 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