Bradley Wiggins on cycling failing on equality: 'Women are just a secondary story' in the sport
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Updated 08/03/2021 at 16:27 GMT
The Bradley Wiggins Show is back for season four. Brad was joined by broadcaster Laura Winter and presenter Graham Willgoss for the new season opener, which featured an in-depth conversation about the lack of equality between men's and women's cycling with recent prize money controversies again highlighting the issue.
'Shocking disparity' - Equality in cycling discussion on Wiggins podcast
Cycling is a sport that is still failing in terms of gender equality, as highlighted in a discussion featured in the return of the Bradley Wiggins Show podcast.
Among the many topics covered in the opening episode of season four of the Bradley Wiggins Show, gender equality in cycling was a major focus as Brad was joined by broadcaster Laura Winter and presenter Graham Willgoss.
Britain's Lizzy Banks highlighted the controversial disparities in prize money at recent major cycling events in speaking to Eurosport for an International Women’s Day special.
Wiggins, Winter and Willgoss all agreed with Banks, and described a "shocking disparity" that demonstrates women "are valued less" within the sport.
Wiggins said: "We haven’t seen him [UCI president David Lappartient] since the Tour de France last year, and he said within two years they were hopeful of having a women’s Tour de France, but we don’t know what it’s going to be called yet.
"We’re getting to March already, the Tour de France is a couple of months away, so it will be one year. I can pre-empt this now getting pushed aside and going, ‘We’re still not in a position to have a women’s Tour de France next year,’ which is all it is now.
It seems a constant theme, a constant story, where the women are just a secondary story. We need some leadership from David Lappartient, and I don’t think we get that enough.
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Winter added: "I feel like I’ve been talking about this since about 2014 or 2015, and it never seems to go away. What’s being lost is how bloody brilliant women’s racing actually is.
"I hate the fact I’ve even just said women’s racing, because it’s just racing. It’s just bike racing and cycling, and it doesn’t matter what’s between your legs on the bike! It’s just good sport.
"On the prize money debate, I know there are lots of different opinions flying around. For me, I think with prize money the rich get richer, and often if you’ve got SD Worx winning week in, week out - which is looking the way at the moment - that is not necessarily going to benefit the whole of women’s cycling. It isn’t this golden ticket that is going to fix women’s cycling, it’s one piece of a big puzzle.
What the shocking disparity [in prize money] screams out to me is, 'We value women less.' That is what it says quite clearly, and that is appalling optics for would-be sponsors, for sponsors looking to come into the sport.
Wiggins also gave his views on a wide range of other topics: from the rise of his former charge Tom Pidcock, to Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, to Chris Froome's prospects at the Tour de France.
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The trio also reflected on the utter dominance of Dutch duo Mathieu van der Poel and in Tuscany over the weekend.
Plus, there was also a special interview with Israel Start-Up Nation’s newest DS, Cherie Pridham.
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Watch the IWD Women in Sport special on Monday at 7pm UK time on Eurosport 1, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app. Plus more exclusive content on the Eurosport app from 8pm.
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