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Global Cycling Body Defends Policy After Transgender Athlete Wins Gold

The Union Cycliste International says its “rules are based on the latest scientific knowledge.”

The organization in charge of global cycling is defending its policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s events after a trans woman took gold in an official stage race for the first time, according to NBC News. After Austin Killips won the last stage of the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on Sunday, the Union Cycliste Internationale said in a statement that it “acknowledges that transgender athletes may wish to compete in accordance with their gender identity,” adding that “the UCI rules are based on the latest scientific knowledge and have been applied in a consistent manner.” The governing body was responding to backlash from within the world of women’s cycling, after former U.S. Olympian Inga Thompson tweeted a poll showing that 90 percent of professional women’s cyclists were opposed to racing against transgender competitors.