The Cyclists’ Alliance, the first global riders’ association founded by women for women, is pleased to announce that it will be accepting membership from and representing the interests of women in all disciplines of elite cycling.
The Alliance officially began its mission to improve the rights, opportunities, and economic potential for women in professional level road cycling in December, 2017. Since then, the Alliance has successfully represented its members by creating a mentoring program, proposing a wide variety of reforms to the UCI, and has helped many riders to resolve legal issues through negotiation and arbitration. Most importantly, the Alliance has listened to the needs of women in cycling through detailed surveys, race visitation, and one-on-one conversations to make sure we understand what women truly need to have successful professional careers.
Now, as women’s professional-level cycling continues to develop and improve, the Alliance has recognized that the issues in road cycling are prevalent in every discipline of our great sport. We understand through our direct conversations with the riders that there are many universally shared issues affecting women riders. Starting today, the Alliance will work with some of the brightest stars in mountain bike racing and cyclocross – with track and BMX to soon follow – to expand its mission to support all women in elite cycling.
Putting this new effort into high gear, Helen Wyman and Katerina “Kate” Nash (cyclocross), Ariane Kleinhans, Catharine Pendrel, and Maja Wloszczowska (mountain bike racing) will be working within their cycling disciplines to help bring their fellow competitors’ interests into a new light. We will help these stars of cycling to bring their peers together and measure what is needed to continue elevating the visibility, outreach, and opportunity for women racing all over the world.
We encourage all women racing at the professional level today to visit the Alliance’s website to learn more about our mission and our programs for helping women to advance their careers in our sport. By aligning the riders’ needs in all of the sport’s disciplines, the Alliance can unify key initiatives for safe and equitable treatment, fair contract negotiations, and expansion of our professional development and mentoring programs to build a stronger and more inclusive sport.
Our newest representatives will soon be reaching out to riders across the globe. Riders can sign up to join The Cyclists’ Alliance through the website, and can also contact the Board members for further information.