When the winner crosses the finish line of the Tour of Flanders, he’ll pocket €20,000. A few hours in advance, the winner of the ladies race will win just €1150. Apart from some of the large races inside the UK and the Tour de Yorkshire and the Women’s Tour, the women’s prize fund is most effective a small fraction of the men’s in equivalent road races.
Although the girls’ racing calendar includes some Monument races like Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege that replicate the guys’ race, there are few critical activities that girls cannot compete insignificantly, the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix.
ASO, the organizer of both of those races, has stated that there are no plans to maintain any girls’ versions of these events.
While one-day race La Course is staged all through the Tour de France, ASO director Christian Prudhomme has reiterated that a women’s Tour de France might be logistically not possible. As for the Queen of the Classics, the timetable for Paris-Roubaix is already full because a junior men’s race additionally takes vicinity.
UCI President David Lappartient has referred to ASO as extra to increase women’s racing, notably to cozy assured television coverage for the girls’ races it organizes.
During a recent public assembly at London’s Look Mum No Hands wherein women racers mentioned racing conditions, Molly Weaver highlighted the need for higher TV coverage to draw greater sponsorship and extra funds for UCI WorldTour groups to pay all their riders at least the minimum salary (€15,000 according to annum) when the guideline comes into force in 2020.
Currently, around half of the female professional racers are paid €five,000 euros pa.
To address problems in women’s professional cycling, the Cyclists’ Alliance was shaped in 2017. Started by Iris Slappendel, Gracie Elvin, and Carmen Small, the organization objectives symbolize aggressive, financial, and personal pastimes of woman professional cycle racers and offers a voice to ladies while bargaining for improved situations.
Women’s expert cycle racing is many years more youthful than the guys’ sport, so it isn’t sudden that there is lots of catching up to do.
Just as with the men’s racing, media insurance of the sport is prime in giving ladies’ cycle racing a wider enchantment and attracting sponsorship to translate into extra assets and better working conditions eventually.
With 45 UCI women’s teams, there may be energy and intensity in girls’ racing. This can permit a tier gadget of big WorldTour groups and smaller Continental Teams, allowing simpler access into pinnacle degree women’s racing for aspiring racers and teams.
A range of movers and shakers in women’s biking have given their personal evaluations to Cyclist wherein we are in ladies’ racing.
‘I agree with a Paris-Roubaix would be a high-quality addition to our race calendar. We have proved that we’re able to take over worrying courses along with Strade Bianche and Flanders and that they have continually been interesting to observe.
‘I even have watched Roubaix for many years now and have loved the brutality and drama of the race and would love to experience it for myself.
‘I disagree with that the women’s peloton needs a 3-week stage race. The appeal of ladies’ cycling is the excitement and drama that the shorter and more intense race lengths convey.
‘We have a extraordinary 10-day stage race [Giro] already on our calendar, which brings massive quantities of enthusiasm and suspense protecting all one-of-a-kind terrains.
‘However, I did love racing along the Champs Elysées and would really like it if we got the risk to race along with it again.
‘I love racing on days while the men are because it is a way we get to enjoy the ecosystem that the guys’ peloton brings; however, we can also discover ourselves competing for interest.
‘In races that stand on my own, we get total reputation from all media structures, organizers and fanatics which makes us experience unique and offers us the opportunity to show off our sport.
‘The Ovo Energy Women’s Tour as an instance is at a unique time of 12 months to the men’s race, so we benefit from the wonderful organization and media structures.’
‘When I was racing professionally, the changes I noticed were longer, higher organized races, more media interest, greater depth and energy within the field, greater professional teams, and higher salaries.
‘There was a variety of goodwill in women’s biking, and that made the sport very special to me. However, I nevertheless like to be concerned because there are such a lot of people running in girls’ biking out of passion. But sure, we certainly do our job in much less most advantageous situations than the men.
‘Since forming the Cyclists’ Alliance, we’ve got no longer seen many attempts by ASO sincerely, but we have visible moves to alternate things by using the UCI.
‘I assume our 2017 survey has opened people’s eyes at the UCI. We see specifically inside the “more recent” cycling countries like the UK, USA, and Australia that they’re making a variety of attempts to improve the races; however, Flanders is also doing the right job.
‘If I may want to change one issue in ladies biking, it’d be greater TV/online coverage and stay streaming of races.
‘I could additionally want to see that greater woman cyclists are privy to their rights, and we try to teach them on this. It’s OK to speak up.’
‘When I raced, the Women’s Tour was one of the high-quality, organized races and had accurate prize money. I also favored Yorkshire. The organization was perfect. Sadly, I cannot say the equal for the Giro.
‘The organization became great; however, the standard of lodge might have been better, and the prize money changed into ridiculous. My heart is in it because it’s in Italy, but I suppose they may improve the race.
‘There is no policies approximately prize money in that class of race, so organizers are loose to invest the cash how they want. Sometimes they invite multiple small Italian teams. I don’t suppose it’s exact for the girls because they arrive at the Giro for a ten-day race, and after some days, they have to grasp onto the bike because they are not in a position to complete it.
‘It’s a waste because the organization has paid for them to come back. I suppose it’s miles better to have a couple of teams fewer inside the race, and then the cash stored can be used for greater prize cash.
‘They display the Giro on RAI TV, and as human beings are already looking TV for the Tour de France, we get a gap for about 15 mins. But it depends on what they display and how you show us for human beings to be involved.
‘Last 12 months, they confirmed Zoncolan and positioned out a whole lot of publicity approximately it, but they merely showed a speedy video, and people didn’t understand the race. It would be best to show tiers with a group sprint, displaying the women doing a lead-out.
