‘Significant problem’ devoid of clear initiatives

Professional road cycling has a serious problem in terms of black representation. While there has been a steady influx of athletes from Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, just five out of 528 riders on the World Tour are black and four of 409 on the Pro Continental Tour, the next rung down. Women’s cycling is even worse, with no black riders at all in the upper echelons. The problem permeates every level; administration, management, media.

Specific policy aimed at improving this is thin on the ground. The UCI, cycling’s world governing body, took two weeks even to respond to the Black Lives Matter protests, publishing a statement entitled “The UCI for diversity in cycling” and noting it spent “five million Swiss francs” last year to increase “training and the development of cycling” around the world. It offered little in the way of detail.

British Cycling is apparently not much better. Britain has 141 professional cyclists licensed by the UCI. None is black. None of its board members is black. Asked what it was doing to address this, the national governing body claimed that improving diversity had been a “clear priority for many years”, but admitted a “significant problem”. Yet it failed to provide many concrete examples of specific policy initiatives which might make a tangible difference. A strategy is expected later this year.

Advocates for change say it must come from the top. Ayesha Mcgowan (above), the first Africanamerican woman to become a pro rider, said: “It’s easier to look outward and think, ‘I’ll give money to this organisation, it will make me feel good right now and ease that guilt a little bit’. But that doesn’t fix your completely white staff.”