Watch any of the Women’s WorldTour races this year and you’d be forgiven for thinking the women’s side of our sport is thriving. Exciting racing, different teams and riders taking big wins, what more could a healthy sport want?
Scratch the surface, though, and it’s clear all is not what it seems, with race cancellations affecting all levels of the sport. Not only has the Tour of Scandinavia been struck from the WorldTour for good, but a raft of losses at the .2 and .1 level, the fourth and third tiers respectively, are depriving young, inexperienced riders of developmental opportunities, undermining the sport’s foundations.
