Big things – or at the very least small steps towards big things – could emerge from today’s Annual Congress of the International Cycling Union (UCI). Earlier this week their Management Committee unanimously approved plans to introduce measures that would heighten the profile of women’s cycling at a professional level, promising to ‘…increase (its) appeal and visibility.’
GB’s Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Pooley have both long been vocal about inequalities and even Bradley Wiggins has entered the fray, saying: ‘They’re the forgotten ones in this sport. They have just as much success as we do.’ Now the UCI has given a commitment to have ‘at least one’ woman on each of its commissions and sub-committees (a labyrinthine 18) and to begin to draw women’s track cycling in line with men’s. As a first stab at this women’s Team Pursuit will, from next year, feature four – instead of the current three – riders, tackling 4km events instead of 3km. Further modifications along these lines are expected to result from the UCI Annual Congress; Cyclo will keep you posted…
