UCI new policy

[DistantVworp]

Changing categories to Men/Open and women. About time!

www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2023/07/14/transgender-cycling-news-uci-bans-athletes-female-races/

Fantastic news!

about time!

Hurrah!!

"The UCI Management Committee has taken note of the state of scientific knowledge, which does not confirm that at least two years of gender-affirming hormone therapy with a target plasma testosterone concentration of 2.5 nmol/L is sufficient to completely eliminate the benefits of testosterone during puberty in men. In addition, there is considerable inter-individual variability in response to gender-confirming hormone therapy, which makes it even more difficult to draw precise conclusions about the effects of such treatment. Given the current state of scientific knowledge, it is also impossible to rule out the possibility that biomechanical factors such as the shape and arrangement of the bones in their limbs may constitute a lasting advantage for female transgender athletes."

Surely they mean male transgender athletes in the last sentence?

Fantastic

BRILLIANT.

Awaiting the reactions with interest.

But it says this applies to female people who had a male puberty - i.e. precisely no-one.

Fan fucking tastic.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think males can compete in the female competition if they have taken puberty blockers and have not undergone male puberty.

These chappies (or girlies depending on your sleight of hand willingness) still don't have a female body, with all that entails. It's still not like against like.

Way better than before, but a female is not any version of a male. And, if it is to be protected, it should be a positive definition. Not simply male not gone through puberty and not testosterone level dependent.

True, but no TW who has not gone through male puberty is going to have the bone strength for any sort of sport, let alone a competitive one.

Quite right, though in some ways I almost prefer the wording that's been used here - it seems to do something really important, namely show that [some people] twisting the language can't ever be used as an excuse to twist the facts/reality.

And it's a good paragraph generally - it makes it clear that a sporting body shouldn't be put to proof over every individual exclusion from the female category - the fact that many men who've taken female hormones outperform the best female athletes is more than enough to justify a blanket exclusion from female sporting classes for all men - the exceptions are irrelevant.

Bloody brilliant. And about time too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think males can compete in the female competition if they have taken puberty blockers and have not undergone male puberty.

But in reality, I would think an adult male who has had his puberty suppressed is not going to be at the fitness level required (or perhaps even be physically well enough) to compete against women who train.

Absolutely. This is the least they can do, better than nothing but it is based, wrongly, on the fact that male advantage cannot be sufficiently mitigated, not on the fact the men claiming to be women are men.

And "female transgender athletes" are women claiming to be men, surely. 🙄No provision for them (if taking T) - except in the Open category where they won't stand a chance of winning. So unfair.

I think this may be partly because a lot of professional cycling teams , even at World Tour Level, have been investing in women’s teams, and the UCI is running ‘female’ tours using the same branding as the Giro and the Tour de France. They get good media coverage and roadside attention, though there is still a way to go.

People have been pointing out to the UCI that this is going to be pretty pointless if the women’s teams were full of second rate or confused ….men.

BTW Ellen van Dijk of Lidl Trek is 30 weeks pregnant and rides 70km of the Tour de France course every day to recce for her team and ITV. Beat that, Veronica.

The fantastic Ross Tucker pointing out that yes science but it was women bravely pushing back that forced sports bodies to acknowledge the science

https://twitter.com/scienceofsport/status/1679852511044202496?s=46&t=aWQLrPtVicDNf6MQpq5WVg

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think males can compete in the female competition if they have taken puberty blockers and have not undergone male puberty.

I think this is a way to avoid making the public statement that its impossible to change sex. Kick the problem into the long grass and hope it goes away or never becomes an issue.

If the US carries on with trying to suppress puberty in children, it may become an issue in a few years. Then theyll have to define male puberty.

Good point puffyisgood, and I do like that it is very clear about the difference in individual male athletes in how their bodies respond to "gender-affirming" (hmm) hormone therapy. Why should women's sport have to change to accommodate the vagaries of men's bodies and the cross-sex hormones some men choose to put into them? We have barely started to understand the complexities of the female body and how that affects our own performance in sports.

I'm so pleased about this. Cycling has been targeted for way too long by mediocre men.

I thought Sandy and Emily were stropping off to another country but they can't now can they?

I find the wordings "female transgender" when they mean males and "current state of science" as if in a bit mayhaps we shall be able to change chromosomal structure pretty funny, but all in all: a huge win, absolutely brilliant, hope the regular suspects and all the deeply mediocre males with dreams of dominating at the dojo are seething!

The BBC headline states that 'transgender women barred from UCI female events' https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/66203709. This is a change from last year when the headline on the article on World Athletics was about 'banning trans women' as if they were banned altogether. Having a 'male and open' category must make a difference.

Good news! And all credit to those brave female cyclists who dug their heels in.

Four page rant from Emily Bridges in 5…4…3…oh, it’s already here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Curo7iksfbL/?igshid=MTIzZWMxMTBkOA==

poor Ems