Last week a friend shared the following image in her feed:
The image has text that reads: Siri give me a metaphor for life. The picture shows a cyclist in front with others behind her. A man spreads his arms to stop her from moving forward. Additional text says “CNN: A breakaway female cyclist was forced to stop during a prestigious race in Belgium after she started to catch up with the men’s competition, which had started 10 minutes earlier. cnn.it/2ExuiEM.”
I was curious about the story and learned the race incident took place in 2019. The rider who had achieved a tremendous lead in catching up to the men finished 74th, saying it was hard to regain the momentum after being stopped for close to ten minutes. CNN said “Swiss cyclist Nicole Hanselmann described it as an “awkward moment:”
“I attacked after 7km, and was alone in the break for around 30km… but then an awkward moment happened and I almost saw the back of the men’s peloton… May (be) the other women and me were too fast or the men to (sic) slow. After the neutralization, I was caught up again and finished the race on the 74th place.” She told Cycling News that “it was a bit sad for me because I was in a good mood, and when the bunch sees you stopping they just get a new motivation to catch you. We could just see the ambulances of the men’s race. I think we stopped for five or seven minutes and then it just kills your chances.”
Tellingly, CNN said “The racing event’s official Twitter account reported the “neutralization of our women race at railroad crossing in Sint-Denijs-Boekel… due to a very slow mens race.”
I wasn’t able to find out if start times had changed after the 2019 incident, but both races continue to take place on the same day and they also start and end in the same communities. However, the women’s race is shorter at 125 to 135 kms compared to the men’s race of about 200 kms. Still, the women’s race has eight climbs and six sections of the routes run over cobblestones.
If there was concern that the women riders would overtake the men and cause safety or ego issues, then organizers should run the races on separate days or allow for longer lead times between the women and the men.
It’s too bad the women’s race was interrupted and the lead cyclist lost her edge. Even though the story is six years old now, it serves as a good reminder that equality is not always respected and secured. A more recent report shows the Belgian race continues to face inequities in the prize purses offered to men (16000 Euros) and to women (930 Euros).
British cyclist Lizzy Banks who commented on the 2021 Belgian race results told the BBC: “When we are looking at the cost of cycling – the cost of TV rights, the cost of putting a race on – prize money is not a massive, massive, cost. If we’re talking about creating an equal environment in men’s and women’s cycling then yes you need the salaries and the infrastructure within the team, but [equal prize money] is a relatively small amount that makes a big impact. It just creates an environment where we say we value you as women and female riders and racers as much as we value the male riders and racers, and we think that your achievement is worth the same amount as the men’s achievement.”
If you are curious about the state of compensation in women and men’s sports, check out this research from Adelphi University — New York for some interesting data: Male vs Female Professional Sports Salary Comparison https://online.adelphi.edu/articles/male-female-sports-salary/.
Wow. I had not heard this story before. What a term “neutralizing” the women’s race. Unbearably frustrating to read.
“Neutralizing” a race is pretty common. They neutralize a race for crashes, for example. In some lower grades of racing they neutralize the race around dangerous corners. But the whole women’s race? Because they caught up to the men? Yeah. No. Very frustrating.