Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rochelle Gilmore has called on the organisers of the Santos Tour Down Under to step up its commitment to women’s cycling, believing that not enough is being done.
While huge sums of money are being put into running the men’s race, the women have to make do with a much smaller two-day competition. The Renditions Homes Santos Cup was run off yesterday and today, and Gilmore is adamant that it is not enough. She would like to see a women’s event held as part of the Santos Tour Down Under, preceding the men’s race on the road each day.
“Some of the biggest companies in Australia - Virgin Blue, Honda and Jayco - are big sponsors behind women's cycling,” she told The Age. “'We've got the support from the spectators, and the women coming to ride in these kind of events who pay from their own pockets to be here.
''So I think it's only the organisers of the Tour Down Under event now who have to say 'OK, women have really stepped up, let's give them a race, let's take advantage of this. 'I guess the first step…is to put the women's race on 30 or 40 minutes before the men … I'm standing here trying to think of what (Tour Down Under race director) Mike Turtur's challenges would be to take that step and I can't find too many big reasons why that can't happen.”
Gilmore is one of the top riders in women’s cycling and her voice on the matter is an important one. There is a growing push that the organisers of the UCI’s WorldTour events should be required to hold women’s race as part of their progamme. Aside from rasing interest and awareness, the events could also benefit from the TV, radio and print media that attend the men’s races, as well as enjoying the same audiences.
There are also calls that ProTeams should also have a women’s contingent, as is the case with HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervélo.