There’s no doubting Australian Cycling is on an upward
surge. This year’s Road Nationals are a case in point: record crowds, good tv
ratings, significant social media activation and loaded fields. But Cycling
Australia must not rest on their laurels; as one of the premier Olympic sports
and the second highest Australian Sports Commission funded NSO (after swimming)[1]
Cycling Australia needs to embrace the whole of their mantra. As the NSO they
are responsible for the whole of the sport, not just the Elite Men that
seemingly are their focus.
Are Elite Men the sole focus?
You certainly could be forgiven for thinking that Cycling
Australia is only interested in the Elite Men’s competition. One cursory glance
at the last two Road Nationals television broadcasts would certainly imply
that. In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that women didn’t ride
bicycles.
Clearly the sport is more than that. In fact Cycling
Australia is responsible for the sanctioning of BMX, Mountain Bike and
Cyclo-Cross as well as Road and Track. Cycling Australia says as much in their own
blurb:
Cycling Australia (CA) is the national administrative body responsible for the sport of cycling in Australia as recognised by the Australian Government, the International Cycling Union (UCI), the Australian Olympic Committee, the Australian Commonwealth Games Federation and the Australian Paralympic Committee.
As an organisation our objectives are to create opportunities for all riders and people interested in cycling. We also deliver high performance programs that produce world class riders across all disciplines. We offer membership benefits to all cyclists - recreational riders through to competitive racers and importantly we are advocates for improving cycling within Australia.”[2]
At no point does it say ‘men only’ yet you could be forgiven
for thinking that was the case. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of
examples where this has been demonstrated to not be true; Caroline Buchanan
winning pretty much everything at the 2013 Oppys proves that. But to only
televise the elite men at your biggest event of the year makes a major point
whether intentional or otherwise.
Equality at the Road Nationals
Elite Women
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| Gracie Elvin going back to back in a massive sprint against Lauren Kitchen. The best race of the weekend and not on tv |
“Thomas, to be clear, it is the responsibility of Cycling Australia, not SBS, they are the rights holder but are cash strapped in terms of paying for additional broadcasts.”[3]
What does this mean? It means that Cycling Australia paid
SBS to cover the Elite Men’s road race but not the women’s! In 2014 how is this
acceptable? At least 13 women racing on international teams took to the start
line. This wasn’t some second string domestic field. It was full of
professional and semi-professional athletes doing their utmost and pushing as
hard as they could in front of their biggest domestic audience.
Nobody can claim lack of interest either. I’ve never seen so
much anger and frustration online at the complete lack of information
available. Without even a web stream it was left to cycling fans by the side of
the road giving twitter updates in the biggest race of the year. Thanks to
Kelvin (@crazycyclefan) for tweets like this because without him there would have been pretty much
nothing available.
Attack Spratty has 22 seconds. Mullens Kitchen Garfoot Hogan still in the bunch
— Kelvin (@crazycyclefan) January 11, 2014
Essentially Cycling Australia chose to ignore the women
completely. I know that Cycling Australia is in dire financial straits but this
is no excuse. For an organisation that is tasked with representing and growing
the sport to snub such a large percentage of their clientele is disgraceful. If
it was a straight time buy then two hours of highlights of each road race would
have been a better deal. The men’s race was interminably boring until the last
two laps anyway!
Para-Cycling
Para-Cycling is one of the most successful areas of the
sport ever undertaken by Australians. At the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling Road World
Championships, the following athletes stood on the podium:
- Michael Gallagher C5 Road Race Champion
- Alistair Donohoe C5 Road Race Bronze, C5 ITT Bronze
- David Nicholas C3 ITT Champion
- Nigel Barley H3 ITT Bronze
- Jayme Richardson C1 Road Race Champion, C1 ITT Champion
- Simone Kennedy C3 Road Race Silver, C3 ITT Silver
- Susan Powell C4 Road Race Bronze, C4 ITT Silver
- Bianca Woolford T1 Road Race Silver, T2 ITT Silver
- Carol Cooke T2 Road Race Champion, T2 ITT Champion
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| B Road Race, Para-Cycling Nationals 2013 |
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| H Road Race, 2013 Para-Cycling Nationals |
There is ample opportunity in Road Nationals week to ensure
Para-Cycling is involved and the athletes given ample opportunity to shine on
the big stage. Cycling Australia
took over responsibility for Para-Cycling from the Australian Paralympic
Committee many years ago. It’s time to take that commitment seriously.
Under 23 Women
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| Emily Roper not wearing an Australian Jersey |
Giving Everyone a Chance
For as long as anybody can remember the Road Nationals have
been held in and around Ballarat. Whilst Ballarat and the Buninyong might be a
good circuit to race on, it’s far from the only place in Australia
capable of hosting the Road Nationals. It’s not only the spectators getting
sick of the course. Sprinter Chloe Hosking has made it abundantly clear what
she thinks of going to the same place every year:
Gotta say, growing tired of the course. If I didnt have to enter to be eligible for Australian national teams I wouldn't bother entering.
— Chloe Hosking (@chloe_hosking) January 11, 2014
Frankly she has a point. Not only is the race predictable it
means only one sort of rider can ever win. If you look at best practise around
the world, championships are moved continuously and the course types change to
give everyone a chance; sprinters, climbers, classics riders etc. If the
Nationals is to continue to grow everyone deserves a chance. It’s time to move
the event around. I don’t care if it’s on a rotation basis between the states
or goes to a bidding process but I feel the event needs growth that only a
literal change in scenery can provide.
Embracing all racing
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| 2013 UCI Road World Championship-Women's TTT |
Scheduling my suggestions
As the road nationals currently stand it is in fact really
easy to fit in my suggested changes and give all athletes the credit they
deserve: If the free day on Friday is utilised for the Para-Cycling it all fits
perfectly:
- Wednesday: All ITT events.
- Thursday (morning): State teams TTT
- Thursday (evening): All Criterium events
- Friday (morning): Handcycle and Trike Road Races
- Friday (afternoon): C1-5 and B Road Races
- Saturday (morning): Men’s U23 Road Race
- Saturday (afternoon): Women’s Road Race
- Sunday (morning): Men’s Road Race.
Conclusion
The Road Nationals are the biggest domestic cycling event of
the year and consistently draw in some of the largest cycling crowds in Australia. If
the sport is to truly develop and recognise all elements of road racing at its
nationals, Cycling Australia needs to promote all of it on the biggest platform
of the year. In 2015 the governing body must do this; it’s their job after all!
There are no excuses. Let’s hope the new President with his vested interest in
women’s cycling (a small matter of owning the Orica-GreenEDGE-AIS) can force
through such an agenda.
