British Cycling to investigate transgender rider's win at Fort William
Maxine Yates won the expert category in the women's downhill national series last weekend
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The Times has reported that British Cycling (BC) is investigating a complaint about Maxine Yates' win in the national level race after British Cycling last month voted to prevent transgender riders from competing.
[Photograph by British Cycling Photographers]
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Yates, a trans-female rider, won the women’s 19+ category in British Cycling’s downhill national series that was held in Fort William just last weekend.
The complaint has been raised, among others, by Jane Page who finished second after Yates in the race. Accusing BC of failing to implement its own rules, she said:
“Like a lot of women, I feel really let down by this.”
Yates told the Times British Cycling had given her racing an approval.
“As I already had a licence and was not competing at an elite level, I was allowed to compete, is what BC informed me,” Yates said. “I’ve taken their advice at every turn and am disappointed BC have let this go on as far as it has. I have followed their rules.”
At the beginning of April 2022, British Cycling suspended its transgender policy with immediate effect, saying that the current system is “unfair on all women riders and poses a challenge to the integrity of racing.”
This decision came after Emily Bridges, a transgender cyclist, was banned from racing the women’s British Omnium Championship. British Cycling said in their statement that the ban is “pending a full review, which will be initiated in the coming weeks”.
British Cycling and UCI's current transgender regulations require riders to have had testosterone levels below five nanomoles per litre for a 12-month period prior to competition. But because the international governing body, the UCI, has not yet completed its own process around Bridges' eligibility to race, BC has not clarified its stance on the transgender matter.
When approached for a comment, BC confirmed they are investigating the case.
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Comments
Up until puberty boys and girls are physically the same. Post puberty, men have a physical advantage and no amount of surgery or hormone reduction is going to change that fact.
If a person born a man wants to live their life as a woman that is fine as far as I am concerned, but for them to expect be able to compete against people born as women, other than just for fun or charity is a ridiculous notion.
This has nothing to do with phobia or prejudice, it is simply the fact that they have an unfair advantages in a similar way that someone using performance enhancing drugs would have.
The way forward possibly is to have transgender only events in cycling and not let the sport descend into the farce that swimming has become.