{"id":1418582,"date":"2022-04-04T17:29:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T21:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1418582"},"modified":"2022-04-04T17:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T21:30:00","slug":"british-trans-cyclist-blocked-from-womens-championship-after-female-racers-threatened-boycott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/british-trans-cyclist-blocked-from-womens-championship-after-female-racers-threatened-boycott\/","title":{"rendered":"British Trans Cyclist Blocked from Women\u2019s Championship After Female Racers Threatened Boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbritish-trans-cyclist-blocked-from-womens-championship-after-female-racers-threatened-boycott%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1418582&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A biological male cyclist who now hopes to compete as a female was blocked from a British Championship race after several female competitors threatened a boycott.<\/p>\n<p>Emily Bridges, who originally competed under his birth name of Zach Bridges, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/cycling\/60969663\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">denied<\/a> entry to the women\u2019s British National Omnium Championship last weekend, the BBC reported.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>It would have been Bridges\u2019 first significant race after reportedly transitioning. But the cyclist was deemed \u201cineligible\u201d to compete by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and British Cycling.<\/p>\n<p>Bridges, 21, told the media that he still doesn\u2019t understand being excluded and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/news\/uci-british-cycling-block-transgender-athlete-from-track-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added<\/a>, \u201cI still have little clarity around their finding of my ineligibility under their regulations,\u201d according to Cycling News.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the last six months, I have been in contact with British Cycling and the Union Cycliste Internationale over the eligibility criteria I would need to meet as a transgender woman in order to race in the female category at the British National Omnium Championships this Saturday, 2 April 2022,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cIn that time, I have provided both British Cycling and UCI with medical evidence that I meet the eligibility criteria for transgender female cyclists, including that my testosterone level has been far below the limit prescribed by the Regulations for the last 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>UCI regulations require transgender cyclists to have testosterone levels below five nanomoles per liter for an entire year before competing in the women\u2019s category.<\/p>\n<p>However, the rules also state that the organization must \u201cprotect health and safety\u201d and \u201cguarantee fair and meaningful competition that displays and rewards the fundamental values and meaning of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is, perhaps, those provisions that the organization relied upon to exclude Bridges from the event after several female cyclists openly discussed boycotting the event if Bridges were allowed to compete. Though no one wanted to go public because \u201cthey feared voicing their opinions would be interpreted as transphobic,\u201d the BBC wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The cycling organizations also cited Bridges\u2019 registration as a male cyclist, which had not yet lapsed, and insisted that he cannot compete as a female until that registration expires.<\/p>\n<p>The TCA decried the \u201charassment\u201d aimed at Bridges. The group told Cycling News, \u201cThe Cyclists\u2019 Alliance will support and treat Emily Bridges with the kindness, dignity, and respect that she deserves as a person. We do not condone the harassment that Emily has received.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The group also attacked the UCI, saying, \u201cexisting UCI transgender guidelines are insufficient and need to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the UCI and British Cycling have demonstrated unfairness by not adhering to their own eligibility criteria set (for those who transition from male to female to compete in the women\u2019s category) and ask for transparent clarification to be given to Emily Bridges on their decision,\u201d the TCA added.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Bridges finished a distance 43rd out of 45 cyclists in the men\u2019s criterium at the Loughborough Cycling Festival and finished second to last during the Welsh National Championship road race. In February, Bridges finally won a men\u2019s points race at the British Universities Championships in Glasgow.<\/p>\n<p>Bridges pleaded to be accepted as a woman in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am an athlete, and I just want to race competitively again, within the Regulations set by British Cycling and UCI after careful consideration of the research around transgender athletes,\u201d Bridges said in a statement. \u201cNo one should have to choose between being who they are, and participating in the sport that they love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston\">facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A biological male cyclist who now hopes to compete as a female was blocked from a British Championship race after several female competitors threatened a boycott. Emily Bridges, who originally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}