British Cycling bans transgender cyclists from its races

British Cycling announced Friday that it will not allow transgender or nonbinary cyclists in its competitive races “pending a full review.”

Its board voted Wednesday to suspend its previous policy that the organization admitted was written “with the intention of advancing the cause of promoting diversity and inclusion within the sport of cycling” in October 2020.

“Understanding that this is a fast-moving area of sports policy and scientific research, we committed to reviewing our policy annually or more frequently, as required, to reflect emerging circumstances,” its statement read.

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This announcement comes two days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his position on the matter clear.

“I don’t think that biological males should be competing in female sporting events,” Johnson said in an interview Wednesday.

It also comes over a week after British Cycling issued a sympathetic statement on behalf of Emily Bridges, a transgender cyclist who was banned from the British National Omnium Championship last weekend.

“We acknowledge the decision of the UCI with regards to Emily’s participation, however we fully recognise her disappointment with today’s decision,” the statement reads. Ultimately, UCI’s ruling influenced the change in British Cycling’s policy.

“Due to the difference in the policies held by British Cycling and the UCI relating to the licensing process, it is currently possible for trans-female athletes to gain eligibility to race domestically while their cases remain pending with the UCI,” said British Cycling in a statement. “This in turn allows those riders to accrue domestic ranking points which impact selection decisions for National Championship races, which is not only unprecedented in our sport, but is also unfair on all women riders and poses a challenge to the integrity of racing.”

The UCI opted to bar Bridges from its race because the cyclist was still registered as a male competitor. Bridges finished 43rd out of 45 riders in the elite men’s criterium at the Loughborough Cycling Festival last May and was second to last in the Welsh National Championship men’s road race in September, a 12-kilometer lap behind the winner. This past February, the 21-year-old won the men’s British Universities Championship for Cycling.

Bridge’s mother, Sandy Sullivan, tweeted British Cycling’s statement on Friday.

“Dumped by email,” Sullivan captioned it. “We’ve just received this in our in box.” She promised to make a statement within 24 hours, but it hasn’t been released as of this report.

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British Cycling will allow transgender and nonbinary cyclists to race in its noncompetitive races while working to “find a timely solution, which achieves fairness in a way that maintains the dignity and respect of all athletes,” according to its statement.