Cycling Race Defines Women Athletes After Transgender Cyclist Wins
transgender woman cyclist, won a Belgian Waffle Ride race in North Carolina in May.In a statement on Monday, Michael Marckx, founder of Monuments of Cycling, told Newsweek that "in keeping with our values and in response to feedback that we recently received from some cyclists after our most recent North Carolina race, we announced last Friday updates to our racing classification policies.""Belgian Waffle Ride will not require proof of eligibility for racers competing in specific classifications before an event.
We may require validation of eligibility of specific racers on a case-by-case basis if needed to ensure the integrity of each classification," the statement continued. "Racers can also request confirmation of eligibility verification of competitors by Belgian Waffle Ride via an anonymous process.
We will take all such requests into consideration."The statement also noted that an equal amount of prize money will be rewarded to the winners in each category.Killips, 27, won the Belgian Waffle Ride racing event and defeated runner-up Paige Onweller by just over 4 minutes, Cyclingnews.com reported.
Meanwhile, Killips' victory made her the first openly transgender woman cyclist to win an official Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) event, the New York Post reported last month.According to Cyclingnews.com, Onweller spoke out about the race and "some controversy" as she was defeated by a transgender woman.
