Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body for cycling, may revise its transgender athlete policy days after it defended the regulations when a male-bodied athlete won a women’s race.
Townhall covered this week how UCI issued a statement defending its policy allowing male athletes to compete against women. This came after Austin Killips, 27-year-old a biological male, took home the overall win in the Tour of the Gila race in New Mexico this week.
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“The UCI acknowledges that transgender athletes may wish to compete in accordance with their gender identity,” the statement said, according to NBC News. “The UCI rules are based on the latest scientific knowledge and have been applied in a consistent manner. The UCI continues to follow the evolution of scientific findings and may change its rules in the future as scientific knowledge evolves.”
The parameters for male-bodied athletes to compete in women’s events includes the maximum permitted plasma testosterone level to 2.5 nanomoles per liter and extending the transition period to 24 months.
Killips began racing in 2019, which Townhall covered, and reportedly began hormone replacement therapy the same year. He may now move on to a spot at the Tour de France or the Paris Olympics.
On Thursday, the organization came forward and said it would “analyze the current situation” and revisit its trans athlete policy. A new decision is anticipated in August, according to the New York Post.
“The UCI’s objective remains the same: to take into consideration, in the context of the evolution of our society, the desire of transgender athletes to practice cycling,” the organization reportedly said. “The UCI also 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.”
"Austin is cycling's equivalent of Lia Thomas," Inga Thompson, a three-time US Olympian and five-time national road race champion, told The Telegraph after Killips won this week.
"This really highlights the issues that are happening to women in cycling," Thompson added. "We have more than 50 transgender women in the sport. And what's going on in the background is that women are just quietly walking away. They think, 'Why bother, if it's not fair?'"