One week after Strade Bianchesaw the first-ever women’s race on the course, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. As fate would have it, things began to change for women’s racing on that day.
The UCI hosted a discussion between the governing body and teams to figure out tactics to continue to professionalize women’s cycling.
As it stands now, the women race in the World Cup series, which consists of 10 prestigious one-day races. In 2016, the women’s World Cup will become the Women’s WorldTour, and will include stage races as well as one-days, upping the total number of race days to between 30 and 35.
The calendar is yet to be determined, but likely races include La Course, la Vuelta a Espana, and Strade Bianche, which was deemed a success this year.
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Currently, there are 38 UCI-registered women’s teams, which is great, but there is huge disparity in resources and results between the teams at the top of the field and those at the bottom. It was proposed that women’s teams would take on a two-tiered system beginning in 2017.
The top level would consist of 10 teams who would be required to participate in all WorldTour events. Regulations that goverened a minimum salary, staff-to-rider ratios, sport director training, and more will be rolled out between 2017 and 2020. The second tier would be similar to current UCI men’s domestic teams.
