The Cyclists' Alliance
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The Cyclists' Alliance or TCA is the
labor organization A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
representing professional
cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...
in
UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...
(UCIWWT) events. The organisation, which operates out of
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel Ouderkerk aan de Amstel () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is largely a part of the municipality of Ouder-Amstel; it lies about 9 km south of Amsterdam. A small part of the town lies in the municipality of Amstelve ...
, is led by Executive Director
Iris Slappendel Iris Slappendel (born 18 February 1985) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. Career She won the 2012 Open de Suède Vårgårda road race, the penultimate event in the 2012 UCI Women's Road World Cup. Slappendel took a total of five UCI race ...
.


Details

Founded in December 2017, TCA act as an intermediary between members and the businesses that employ them. The main purpose of the organization is to provide formal representations and give riders the power to negotiate for more favourable working conditions. In addition to conducting labor negotiations, TCA represents and protects the rights of the athletes; the organization's actions include filing grievances on behalf of athletes. The union is also negotiating for the introduction of a collective bargaining agreement as is available for male cyclists. The union will ensure these commitments are adhered to by the UCI and the teams. It negotiates and monitors retirement and insurance benefits and enhances and defends the image of athletes and their profession.


History

Female professional athletes have been waging a battle for equality in nearly every major sport. In the 21st century, activists have produced watershed wins, such as equal prize money for major tennis events. In contrast, cycling had made little progress prior to 2017. Previous activist work for better women's cycling had occurred, with groups like
Le Tour Entier Le Tour Entier is an activist group to improve women's cycle racing, and call for a women's Tour de France. The group was founded by multiple world champion Marianne Vos, Olympic silver medallist Emma Pooley, professional cyclist Kathryn Bertine a ...
calling for the creation of a women's Tour de France. The UCI's 18-member management committee includes only two women and reflects the widespread institutional sexism in cycling culture. The Cyclists' Alliance as an idea came from the recently retired
Iris Slappendel Iris Slappendel (born 18 February 1985) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. Career She won the 2012 Open de Suède Vårgårda road race, the penultimate event in the 2012 UCI Women's Road World Cup. Slappendel took a total of five UCI race ...
following some of her own experiences as a rider and a UCI representative. In February 2017, Slappendel had spoken to the men's cycling union, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), about ways in which they could support women's cycling. The men's association dismissed Slappendel, asserting that CPA did not consider women to be professional. Slappendel then met with two professional cyclists,
Gracie Elvin Gracie Elvin (born 31 October 1988) is an Australian former bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2020, for the and . Elvin is a two-time winner of the Australian National Road Race Championships, with victorie ...
of Mitchelton–Scott and
Carmen Small Carmen Small (born April 22, 1980) is an American former racing cyclist, who currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Outside of cycling, Small was a founding member of The Cyclists' Alliance and vice director for 201 ...
of
Team Virtu Cycling Women Team Virtu Cycling Women was a UCI Women's cycling team based in Denmark, that competed between 2015 and 2019. Team history In November 2016 it was announced that Bjarne Riis and Lars Seier (Riis-Seier Project) took over the women's team BMS BIR ...
, and the group surveyed 450 professional cyclists racing in
UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...
events. This survey affirmed that an association of women's professional cyclists would be an important catalyst to push women's teams, the UCI, and race organizers, to work toward greater economic and career opportunities for women. The labor association, The Cyclists’ Alliance was subsequently formed in December 2017.


Leadership

The current executive director of TCA is
Iris Slappendel Iris Slappendel (born 18 February 1985) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. Career She won the 2012 Open de Suède Vårgårda road race, the penultimate event in the 2012 UCI Women's Road World Cup. Slappendel took a total of five UCI race ...
. As of 2018, the rider council consists of the following current athletes:
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (née Moolman; born 9 December 1985) is a South African professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Women's Continental Team . She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's road race, finishing 16th and ...
,
Amanda Spratt Amanda Spratt (born 17 September 1987) is an Australian road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Spratt was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics. In 2012, 2016 and 2020 she won the Au ...
, Leah Kirchman,
Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a tim ...
,
Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...
,
Audrey Cordon Audrey Cordon-Ragot (née Cordon; born 22 September 1989) is a French road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Career She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's road race, but finished over the time limit. In ...
,
Christine Majerus Christine Majerus (born 25 February 1987) is a Luxembourgish professional road and cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She won the 2013 Sparkassen Giro Bochum one-day road race and the general classification of ...
, and Ariane Luthi (MTB).


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyclists' Alliance Labor-related organizations Organizations established in 2017 Organisations based in the Netherlands 2017 establishments in the Netherlands