The UCI has now confirmed that the first-ever under-23 women’s rainbow jerseys will be awarded in Australia at the Wollongong Worlds this year in a move that was welcomed by the local organising committee as an important step toward greater representation.
“Wollongong is a place that celebrates diversity, inclusion and equality in our community, and we are thrilled that the first ever Women’s Under 23 Road World Championship gold medals and rainbow jerseys will be awarded in our Australian city,” said Wollongong 2022 Chair Dean Dalla Valle.
“This will add even more excitement to a high-energy world-class event and we look forward to welcoming all riders to the start line come September.”
For the next three Road World Championships the U23 title will be awarded from within the existing elite women’s event, the winner being the highest-placed finisher from among that time trial and road race in the age category. It is not until the 2025 Worlds in Rwanda that it will be run as a separate category.
That will provide a greater opportunity for riders to capture the title while they are under-23, as it is difficult enough to firstly gain selection to secure one of the limited quota spots so they can race for their nation. To capture the win among an experienced elite field becomes an even more difficult task – with only a few like Marianne Vos, Amalie Dideriksen and Chloe Dygert having broken through that barrier in recent years.
However, a survey by the Cyclists Alliance showed overwhelming support for the category to be delivered as a separate race, pointing to a number of complicating factors of the categories racing together, from safety to quotas. The independent union added that: “a separate race category is paramount to help develop riders as they transition out of the junior category and provide a pathway for creating greater depth in riders ability and technical skills before they transition to the Elite category.”
The UCI said in an announcement on Saturday that the transitional measure of combining the U23 and elite women’s races was done for “technical and logistical reasons and due to commitments already made.” It is indeed a decision that is unlikely to add much in the way of organisational burdens for the host cities, as extra events don’t have to be slotted into the schedule.
That is an issue UCI President David Lappartient pointed to in a September media conference at the Flanders World Championships as one of the things that he said needed to be considered when contemplating adding a women’s U23 category was what would happen when you asked host cities to close for an extra day.
It appears, however, that this was not a question asked of the coastal Australian city.
“Wollongong 2022 was not asked by the UCI about the potential to include any additional stand alone events in the 2022 UCI Road World Championship schedule,” Taggart said in response to a question from Cyclingnews via email.
“Wollongong 2022 supports equality in all aspects of the sport and we are excited to be the first host city to stage the Women and Men Elite individual time trials on the opening day and over the same distance, and now the first host city to see World Championship medals and rainbow jerseys awarded in the Women Under 23 category.”
At the September Flanders media conference, with Lappartient, UCI director of sports Peter Van den Abeele did add that Wollongong would be a good opportunity to add the category from an equality perspective but that the UCI would would also have to consult with national federations on the issue.
“We recognise there have been many considerations for the UCI and other stakeholders such as national federations in arriving at this decision, and as the local organising committee we will respect the requirements and decisions of the international governing body,” Taggart said.
