This article was first published in CyclingNews.
On Friday, I attended the Rouleur Classic event in London to take part in a discussion panel on the state of women’s cycling. Joining Cyclingnews on the panel were Drops Cycling team owner Bob Varney, new Drops rider Abby-Mae Parkinson and Voxwomen’s Laura Winter.
Women’s cycling has been fighting a long, hard battle to earn the recognition, professionalism and funding that it desires.
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While half an hour is only enough time to scratch the surface, it is clear that there is currently a lot to celebrate in women's cycling. A lot has changed since I started working as a cycling journalist back in early 2012. Women's cycling enjoyed a good many races in the past but poor sponsorship meant that events were folding with alarming regularity and teams were struggling to stay afloat.
For me, the 2012 Olympic Games proved a turning point in the slow demise of the sport and gave the women’s peloton a platform to show what they can do. All eyes were on them as they raced on a torrid day in London on the second day of competition. Marianne Vos came up trumps in a dramatic finale, and the race not only earned her a gold medal but gave the sport many new fans.
Women's cycling now has a very passionate and engaged fan base. Work was needed to build on that success and the voice of Vos and others such as Emma Pooley, Nicole Cooke, Chrissie Wellington and Kathryn Bertine, with their Le Tour Entier project, and many more have helped push women's cycling back in the right direction.
Still work to be done
Times are a changing
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