Abstract
Similar to many women’s sports, professional women’s road cycling is said to have momentum and to be “booming.” However, the inequalities between women’s and men’s professional racing persist. This gender inequality requires a deeper analysis than an explanation and justification of biological differences. Despite women’s participation in professional road bicycle racing in the late 1800s, women’s road cycling has not progressed linearly and women have been structurally and culturally excluded from professional road cycling. The aim of this chapter is to address what needs to be considered in the discussion on the economics of women’s cycling. The chapter considers a brief history of women’s road racing, the current organizational structure, and the media coverage of the women’s races. The arguments formulated are based on existing literature and original sociological research on gender and labor relations in women’s road cycling. The chapter argues that the consideration of a critical historical perspective and gender relations in discussions on the economics of women’s professional road cycling is imperative to reconstruct the narrative of cycling in a modern era to make gender equity a reality.
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Ryder, S. (2022). Professional Women’s Road Cycling. In: Van Reeth, D. (eds) The Economics of Professional Road Cycling. Sports Economics, Management and Policy, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11258-4_13
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