World Cup Tabor Ushers in New UCI Rule for Women's Race Lengths
More on 50-minute Elite Women's races and hear from Katie Compton and Maghalie Rochette on the rule change.
Gender equality in cycling touches many parts of the sport—pay, opportunity, exposure, to name a few. It took a long time to get there, but cyclocross has made positive steps in the last decade or so. Women’s races are now usually broadcast live along with the men’s, race payouts are nearing equality in Europe, and women now have the opportunity to race against their peers in Junior Women’s World Cup races.
One area, however, where women are clearly treated differently is in race distances. Women’s road races, if they even are held, are nearly universally shorter than men’s, and in cyclocross, the UCI rules dictate that men race for 60 minutes, while women race for 40-50.
The discrepancy in race lengths really drew attention, at least here in the U.S., at the 2016 Jingle Cross World Cup when Katie Compton finished with a winning time of 37:08, which was glaring in real-time because it fell several minutes short of the minimum race length established by UCI rules. There would go on to be more races in Belgium that season that were shorter than 40 minutes, including Scheldecross (winning time 39:11) and Azencross (winning time 39:51).
Although there have not been any high-profile violations of the UCI race length rule since that season that I can quickly recall, I think it is fair to say that even though race officials have been at least adhering to the UCI rule, more often than not, women’s races seem to tend toward the shorter end of the 40-50 minutes than the longer. For example, if the first two laps come in a bit over 16 minutes, suggesting an 8-minute average, it seems the race length is set at 5 laps (40 minutes) versus 6 laps (48 minutes).
To its credit, I think the U.S. cyclocross community has been good at advocating for gender equality in racing times. During that 2016-17 season, important voices were vocal in highlighting the UCI’s inability to enforce its own rules (not that we are going to pretend the UCI listens to American cycling), and even better, plausible alternatives were even offered.
Bill and I were COMPETITORS at the time (him at the CXHairs Media Empire, me at Cyclocross Magazine), so I think I’m allowed to point out in a non-partisan fashion that he has been advocating for 50-minute races for both women and men for years. I am paraphrasing his argument as I understand it, but 50 minutes is a solid time for keeping the racing intense throughout while avoiding the mid-race lull we sometimes see in the men’s races. It also means that we treat the best cyclocross racers throughout the world equally.
I don’t know that fans eagle-eye first-lap times as much as we once had to, but astute observers may have noticed the first lap in the Elite Women’s race at World Cup Tabor last weekend finished with a time of 9:24. Now, maybe 5 years ago we may have seen a 4-lap race (finish time around 38 minutes), but at least recently that has been squarely in 5-lap territory (47ish-minute race time). However, as riders came through for the second time, they saw four to go on the lap counter.
Lucinda Brand would go on to win the race with a time of 53:43. During the race, observers and even the announcers took note of the extended race time. Over 50 minutes! Had the UCI finally found a team of race officials who were willing to subvert the system and allows a longer race as an expression of gender equality?
Kind of? But not really?
Oftentimes during the World Championships, we get a drop of new rules from the UCI. In the case of rules pertaining to gender equality, they usually seem to go into effect incrementally and in the future. Such was the case for a rules drop that occurred the day before the 2019 Bogense World Championships.
On the same day it was officially announced that the 2022 World Championships would be coming back to the U.S. in Fayetteville, the UCI also announced that Elite Women’s World Cups would have to be “as close as possible to 50 minutes” beginning this season, and all Elite UCI Women’s races will have that same 50-minute rule apply next season.
I guess given *waves hands* everything going on in the world, including the uncertainty of whether there would be European cyclocross at all, it was easy to overlook the UCI rule change and forget that yes, there is a new rule that requires Elite Women’s World Cups (and all races next year) to be as close as possible to 50 minutes.
As a fan of cyclocross and women’s racing in particular, I am happy with the UCI rule. I love the intensity of the Women’s races from start to finish, and I think the 50-minute time goal helps ensure that intensity will continue while at the same time coming closer to acknowledging that women are just as capable of racing hard as men.
Those of us who commentate on cyclocross have made our opinions about the race length issue known, but I was also interested in hearing if race lengths are a big deal to the women participating. I reached out to Katie Compton and Maghalie Rochette for their thoughts.
Compton agreed that 50 minutes seems to be close to the magic number. “I think it is important to race longer, and it’s also more fun for us. The racing is exciting to watch and it should be even with the men's race. I also think the men's race would be better if it went for 50 minutes as well, or at least a maximum of 60 minutes. That keeps the racing more interesting and the race is generally selected by that point anyway.
She also offered a broader perspective on the topic of equality. “Equality would be even better if we earned similar respect, start contracts and prize money as well as sponsorship dollars as the men. I don’t think it will be equal until we reach that point.”
Rochette echoed similar sentiments. “I don't think a longer race makes a better race. One of the things I like about cyclocross is it's quick and dynamic. If anything, I think the men's race should be 50 minutes to make things equal. I don't think we need to reach for 60 minutes. That being said, I do think 40 minutes is really short, so around 50 minutes is a good thing. In the end, the race is as long as it is. You have to be ready for whatever the race length is.”
One cool aspect of cyclocross is as amateurs we can play the same sport as the pros, albeit just not remotely close to as well. We have all been there wishing a race would Just. End. And it turns out, sometimes the pros, they’re just like us! “At times I do like shorter races because I want the suffering to end sooner, but that would be the only reason for me liking the shorter race,” Compton said.
That factor excluded, both women agreed that racing longer did not alter the approach they brought to the line in Tabor. “For my training, I didn't really change anything, because I am already training for about 50 minutes of racing. That's what they've been trying to do for years, and now they're applying it more strictly,” Rochette said. “It's still short. It's still under an hour, so it's a shorter effort going full gas.”
Interestingly, the longer race time did impact the experience of both women racing. Rochette made a strong last-lap push to move up from around 18th to finish just outside the top 10 in 11th. And while she did benefit on that afternoon, she echoed the cycling equivalent of what goes around, comes around.
“I was happy because it allowed me to pick up a few more spots. But sometimes it might be the opposite, and I might get caught on the last lap. That's just racing. It's the same for everyone.”
Compton, on the other hand, got caught up in the holeshot crash that caused several severe injuries and spent nearly 59 minutes on the course racing to a finish near 30th. “I did wish the race was shorter about halfway through, I was just getting bored racing by myself and that course isn’t tons of fun, so I was ready to be done,” she admitted. “If I was able to start racing and chasing sooner, I probably would’ve liked the longer race to try and move up more. But that’s bike racing, right?”
The shortened five-race World Cup returns in two weeks at Namur on December 20, where we will again hope to see 50 minutes of Elite Women’s racing on one of the most technically and physically demanding courses in the world.
Featured image: Yefrifotos.fr