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The Cyclists’ Alliance group representing the women’s peloton has piled into “the weight debate” and pressured the UCI to better safeguard athlete health.
The TCA statement issued a statement Tuesday to address a freshly raging conversation concerning body composition, eating disorders, and hormonal health.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Demi Vollering were repeatedly questioned on the topics while they raced to the podium of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
“The current system is not set up to protect female health,” warned TCA president and recently retired Olympic star Grace Brown.
“It’s our duty to continue educating and advocating for better standards that allow women to perform with well-fuelled, strong, and happy bodies.”
Mandatory screenings to provide early warnings
The TCA is working to promote measures that will ensure longer term athlete health. (Photo: Gruber Images / Velo)
The Cyclists’ Alliance turned the pressure on the UCI with its statement Tuesday.
The group called on the governing body to collaborate on its previous proposal that yearly screenings for RED-S and bone density become mandatory. Such safeguards were recently introduced in sport climbing.
Athletes suffer from “Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport” (RED-S) after prolonged periods of negative energy balance, whether through restrictive eating or over-training. It leads to a cascade of hormonal impacts that impact both physical and mental health.
U.S. star Veronica Ewers was forced to put her racing career on hiatus for nine months while she battled the condition.
Also read: Pro cycling’s curse of watts per kilo
In the short term, yearly tests for RED-S and “brittle bones” would act as early indications of weight mis-management. In the longer term, they could prevent potentially life-long complications.
Outside the UCI scope?
The TCA told Velo that the initial proposals it provided to UCI medical director Dr. Xavier Bigard in November 2024 appear to have been shelved.
“Dr. Bigard confirmed that this topic has been one of his major concerns for several years, and a topic that is ‘being extensively discussed within the UCI Medical Commission,’” TCA director Deena Blacking told Velo.
“He suggested that the issue was complex and that it could not be included in UCI regulations because, according to him, RED-S requires a clinical diagnosis.”
Blacking added that The Cyclists’ Alliance is hoping to form a positive, collaborative relationship with the UCI over what is a pressing topic.
“He did say that the UCI could integrate recommendations and propose a course of action, but we haven’t seen anything published,” Blacking said.
The UCI told Velo this week that it “has been working on this topic for several months and is currently continuing its discussions with its medical experts. An official announcement will be made in due course.”
No further timelines were provided.
‘A dangerous moment’
Weight and hormonal health became a hot topic at the Tour de France Femmes. (Photo: Gruber Images / Velo)
Athlete weight is one of the long-standing taboos of both the men’s and women’s peloton.
While team nutritionists and “the carbohydrate revolution” are helping push the focus toward watts rather than weight, there’s no escaping that cycling is a sport governed by gravity.
Cédrine Kerbaol and Clara Koppenberg recently joined Vollering and Ferrand-Prêvot in discussing the pressure of “racing weight” and the position of athletes as role models.
“We are in a dangerous moment. There are many people who have won big races with a very light weight. Indirectly, the young girls who try to perform will take them as an example,” Kerbaol told French outlet l’Humanité.
“We are in a period of greater visibility where everyone wants to progress faster, stronger, have more watts, be lighter. In recent years, it has been very fashionable to count every gram on the plates,” Kerbaol said.
“We must not fall into a form of dehumanization and infantilization.”
‘Women in sport receive a disproportionate amount of scrutiny about their bodies compared to men’
Vollering was hit with a wave of questions about her weight. (Photo: Gruber Images/Velo)
Disordered eating, RED-S, and low bone density are prevalent in both the men’s and women’s peloton.
The hollow cheeks and venous calves of the men’s Tour de France highlight how hard riders cut kilos for peak season.
Nonenethless, the TCA highlighted there’s a mismatch in how weight issues are addressed.
Vollering claimed “80 percent” of the questions she was asked during her final Tour de France Femmes press conference addressed her weight.
Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard received no such scrutiny.
“We’re disappointed that women in sport receive a disproportionate amount of scrutiny about their bodies compared to their male counterparts. We encourage all of the voices in cycling to be leaders rather than followers, and to help to change the dialogue in elite sport when it comes to weight and women’s bodies,” read the TCA statement.
“We hope for a future where women’s bodies are not so heavily scrutinised, whether in a bike race or in life.”
(Photo: Demi Vollering Instagram )