UCI to ‘re-open consultation’ around transgender women participation

The UCI will ‘re-open consultation’ around transgender women competing in elite female cycling events.

The move comes after Austin Killips became the first transgender cyclist to win a women’s UCI stage event on Sunday. British Cycling are also reportedly considering banning transgender women from elite level competition. 

A UCI statement said it is “reopening consultation with the athletes and national federations, and therefore agreed to debate and take an eventual decision at its next meeting, in Glasgow in August. It hears the voices of female athletes and their concerns about an equal playing field for competitors and will take into account all elements, including the evolution of scientific knowledge.”

American three-time Olympian Inga Thompson told BBC Sport that many fellow competitors have contacted her about the issue, asking her to speak up. “They're mad, they're angry. They're asked to be nice and polite but can't even look at Austin without having rage. They feel 'we've trained our whole life to be here and we don't have a fair shot at this. This is a policy issue that needs to be addressed. Nobody should be attacking transgender athletes.”

The current UCI rules require transgender women to suppress their testosterone levels to 2.5 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) for a 24-month period prior to competing in female events but following the Killips win transgender cyclists may be completely barred from the women’s event.