The Ongoing Struggle

Despite progress, equality remains distant. The women's Tour covers eight days versus men's twenty-one. Prize money, while improved, remains fractional. Media coverage, though growing, pales compared to men's saturation. These disparities reflect broader sports inequalities but feel particularly acute given cycling's complete exclusion history.

Cultural Resistance

Deeply embedded cultural attitudes persist. Some still argue women lack power for spectacular racing. Others claim audiences prefer men's competition. These arguments, recycling century-old prejudices, ignore evidence from successful women's races. They reveal resistance to change masquerading as commercial or sporting concern.

Social media comments on women's racing expose ongoing misogyny. Female riders face appearance critiques irrelevant to performance. Their achievements are minimized through comparison to amateur men. This hostile environment discourages young women from pursuing cycling careers, perpetuating participation gaps.