Chaotic race highlights cycling issues

Elite women’s cycle races atomic number 18chaotic and badly organised, scarcethe media coverageis worse.

Let me state this for the record: I am a cull outof women’s cycling, and I would l like to be able to readand watch more about it.

I feel the need to readthis because, although thereis no lack of articles praising the post-Olympic spike in interest in women’s cycling, there is practically no coverage of the sport itself.

Take the case of the Tour de Languedoc-Roussillon, winby Britain’s Emma Pooley make itweek.

It had been hoped that the race would replace the Tour de l’Aude, one of the morehonoredevents on the women’s calendar, which was cancelled in 2010 ascribableto lack of sponsorship.

However, Languedoc-Roussillon closelymet the same fate; the organisers cancelled the race the day before it was due to begin, citing a lack of sponsorship.

A backer was eventually found, and the race reinstated – with the counterbalancestage missing, and minus two teams, who pulled out in comprehensibledisgust.

After her win, Pooley told cycling blog VeloNation that the Tour had been “chaotic”.

The race she described was a far cry from the slick organisation of men’s events.

“Frequent last-minute changes of accommodation; a nightmare for anti-doping whereabouts; poor quality accommodation; campsites of varying cleanliness; no rightaddresses for race starts… It was all highly frustrating.”

The race may pee-peebeen shambolic, but the media coverage was non-existent.

Despite cosmoswon by a Brit – and Pooley led the race from the third stage – there is no mention of it on the websites of the BBC, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, or the Sun.

The shieldermanaged a passing reference to Pooley’s third stage win, in an article about the men’s Giro d’Italia.

Newspapers are happy to establishwomen’s cycling in the abstract, whether praising the effect of London 2012 on women taking part in the sport, or castigating the sponsorship gender bias.

However, they are simply unwilling to invest in sending journalists to opuson women’s races.

Decisions by the media not to cover women’s sports are frequentlyblamed on a lack of interest from fans.

But it is unenviableto develop an interest when just finding out who won a race, or even when a race is being held, is a challenge.

So I’m adding my voice: more coverage please.

 

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Materials taken from Womens Views on News