British Cycling, the national governing body for the sport of cycling in Britain, is the latest body to bar transgender women from competing in the female category, reports The Guardian..The organization said the decision was made after a nine-month review of the latest science, to “safeguard the fairness” of the sport..New rules are in place which include the men’s division being replaced by an open category that will include transgender men, transgender women and non-binary individuals. .The female category for races under the guise of British Cycling, from grassroots to elite divisions, will be comprised only of racers who were born as females..The new policy, closely aligned with that of UK Athletics and Swim England, will also apply to all British Cycling-sanctioned competitive events involving times, ranking, points or prizes, as well as selection decisions for the Great Britain cycling team..The decision ends the hopes of transgender cyclist Emily Bridges, who was at the centre of a controversy last year, when she was excluded by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for sports cycling, from the women’s category of the British National Omnium Championships because she was still registered as male..However, says The Guardian, “the news is likely to be widely welcomed by the country’s top female riders, many of whom threatened to boycott last year’s British National Omnium Championships until Bridges was declared ineligible.”.The female riders believed Bridges, who was on the Great Britain academy program as a male rider until being dropped in 2020 after coming out as transgender, still had an unfair advantage after transitioning..British Cycling agreed and in a statement about its change of policy, pointed to studies that indicated even with the suppression of testosterone, transgender women who transition post-puberty have a performance advantage..“I am confident that we have developed policies that both safeguard the fairness of cycle sport competition, whilst ensuring all riders have opportunities to participate,” said British Cycling’s CEO, Jon Dutton..It is statement, British Cycling apologized to transgender athletes for the time it took to design the policy, which left riders, including Bridges, in limbo. .“We recognize the impact the suspension of our policy has had on trans and non-binary people, and we are sorry for the uncertainty and upset that many have felt during this period,” it said..“Our aim in creating our policies has always been to advance and promote equality, diversity and inclusion, while at the same time prioritizing fairness of competition. This aim has not changed.”.Bridges, who set a national junior men’s record over 25 miles in 2018, described the decision as “a violent act” in a statement. .“British Cycling is a failed organization, the racing scene is dying under your watch and all you do is take money from petrochemical companies and engage in culture wars,” she wrote. “I agree there needs to be a nuanced policy discussion and continue to conduct research, but this hasn’t happened.”.“Research isn’t being viewed critically, or any discussion about the relevance of the data to specific sports. I don’t even know if I want to race my bike anymore.”.In an interview with DIVA magazine Bridges said it was wrong to say trans women in sport retain inherent advantages and claimed to be able to prove it.."I understand how you'd come to this conclusion because a lot of people still view trans women as men with male anatomies and physiologies," Bridges said. "But hormone replacement therapy has such a massive effect. The aerobic performance difference is gone after about four months.”."There are studies going on for trans women in sport. I'm doing one and the performance drop-off that I've seen is massive. I don't have any advantage over my competitors and I've got data to back that up."
