Passing curves and turning a corner

Many times over the years that I’ve been involved with women’s cycling, I’ve heard a lot of phrases like “turning point,” “potential,” and “fragile.”  But it seems to me we actually have turned a corner.  OK, there are still many more curves in the road, but things have changed. We need to reflect that in our outlook for the sport.

In recent weeks, AA Drink folded and the initial reaction to this was full of fear.  What was going to happen to the riders and the staff? Will there be a future for them, can they keep riding, or will the sport be robbed of top talent that plays its role in developing future generations?  Gladly, the strength in depth of the sport was there for the riders to find new homes.  On top of this, the re-emergence of teams like Bigla, who have signed Emma Pooley, shows that the sport is developing itself a strong second tier.  That level is firmly where I see my team at the moment; working hard to provide a place between pro teams and clubs.  The fact that Emma Pooley commented that her taking a year out wouldn’t be a good idea when considering 2016, shows this sport is packed full of talent and it takes constant involvement and improvement to shine, even for the most naturally-gifted of riders.

Although we don’t have a set of regulations giving us the tiered registration structure that men’s teams have, we seem to be creating it for ourselves.  In other areas there are some important but small changes to the UCI regulations regarding entering races.  For me the key change will be the removal of the requirement to offer the leading national teams a place in World Cup races.  As I’ve said in my ramblings before, having national teams in these events can be destructive.  Although the fine details of the rule changes are yet to be published, it looks like taking a positive step.  There’s also the introduction of .HC events which will add prestige and interest to these events.   If we now have people in and out of teams working to make a better environment for women’s racing, we have for sure turned at least part of the corner.

The tangled turns of Spaghetti Junction

The road we are on looks far less like spaghetti junction right now.   I would be a strong advocate of a group of interested individuals from the sport getting together to form a working group who could provide recommendations to the UCI on how to progress our sport.  Perhaps it could even go further and provide some guidelines to new teams and races on development, sustainability and media interaction.

We also have a new band of media-savvy teams, which combined with vastly increased attention from news sites, means women’s cycling is forcing itself onto front pages on a far more regular basis.  There also seems to be a general levelling out of teams at the top.  Super teams are less dominant and the chasing pack has formed very strong units like HiTec Products and Dolmans.  Not only does this drive forward the top of the sport, but it also provides team like mine with the hope we can follow their lead, and create stable but competitive teams that can in turn reward sponsors with both media and results.

From a UK perspective we now have five riders being placed on an Australian-run, Italian-based, British-registered pro team. These young riders are going to get a chance to sharpen their road racing teeth at the highest level, whilst keeping up their track focus.  Perhaps this is the toe in the water for Sky women’s team; I suppose that will become clear over time.  I’m sure it will be a strong outfit and it should provide hope to other British riders that they can succeed on the world scene.  There are so many British pro road riders now, something that didn’t seem possible a few seasons ago.  When I launched FBUK, which was Britain’s first ever UCI trade team for women, there were just a couple of European-based pros outside of the National Team.   Personally, I’d love to see British investment and British riders going to a truly British team.  I’m not talking an exclusively British team, but a British core of funding and riders at Professional level, importantly including British staff learning to take the sport forward.   There are several teams in the UK capable of stepping up to UCI level and with the addition or retention of top class riders could make an impact on the world scene.

However if I put my personal frustrations aside, I guess the creation of international teams is potentially good for the sport.  Examples in cyclo-cross of geographically-biased professional teams are potentially destructive to the sports progression.  So I guess we’ll see how this works out over time.

So perhaps the doom and gloom era is over. Positive notes seem to be playing over women’s cycling, even if it’s not a full symphony orchestra yet.  We need to keep this push going, further engage fans, support events and continue to build key stepping stones for progressive riders.  If my little team can make a difference, so can one local to you.  I’m already looking forward to the UK’s key events in 2013, and I’m working very hard to forge links with overseas teams to provide riders with further opportunities to shine in events that best suit them.  If more teams and leaders of the sport can work together and create one powerful voice, then I think we have a real chance to speed up the progress and push women’s cycling mainstream.

Perhaps it won’t be long until the phrases used around women’s cycling are “progressive,” “strong,” and “leading the way.”

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9 November 2012 Footnote: Stef has written a companion piece in response to the many questions he received following publication of this article. You can read it here.

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Stefan Wyman is the Owner, Sports Director and Manager of the Matrix Fitness/Prendas women’s cycling team. Previously a rider himself, Stefan entered the world of team management in 2004 with Team FBUK. Specializing in women’s racing, Stefan has experienced huge success; not only in developing riders on the road as a Director Sportif (DS), but also as one of the main engines behind the scenes.

In major races, he has led his team to many successes, including a stage win and young person’s jersey in the 2009 Trophy d’Or, World Cup podiums in Cyclo-Cross, and multiple national championship victories.

We are grateful that Stef has lent his voice to us; you can find him on Twitter @ds_stef, and on the web with his team – @onthedrops – at http://www.onthedrops.cc/ and at #fanbackedwomenscycling