And the women? They had to turn off beforehand and crossed the finish line at an unadorned bus stop. This is what Olympic track cycling champion Mieke Kröger told Deutschlandfunk radio recently. "You really feel like an appendage," said the 28-year-old. It's a feeling that has often prevailed in women's cycling in recent years.
Like her team-mate Lisa Brennauer, Kröger is a winner of everything, with gold medals at the Olympics, European Track Championships, World Track Championships and Road World Championships in 2021 alone. However, women's cycling is still far from being generally relevant. "I'm hoping for more presence. Some people now know that strange foursome from Tokyo that set three world records there. I hope that women's cycling in general will be more in the spotlight," Kröger told the German Press Agency at the World Championships in Roubaix.
But progress is being made. This year, the spring classic Paris-Roubaix was organised for women for the first time, and the women's Tour de France will start in 2022 - with the Champs-Élysées in Paris as the start instead of the men's finish as usual. "The Tour de France next year is a big event on the calendar. Of course it's exciting. It's a great development. Women's cycling is moving forward," emphasised Brennauer, who at 33 has been competing for a long time and would like to continue her career in 2022.
Even if female athletes and coaches emphasise the fundamentally "positive development", the differences are still huge. In terms of TV presence, reach, prize money and salaries, the men are extremely far ahead. Kröger recently talked about how things are with the women's road races in terms of prize money: There's as much as 300 euros for the entire team of six female riders. A share of ten per cent goes to the staff, Kröger added.
Is the harmonisation fast enough? "What is fast enough?" Brennauer asked back. "I believe that steady progress is safe progress. It's a good sign in the right direction." The Allgäu native, who is active on the track and road, is confident that "a lot will happen in the next few years." As is so often the case in cycling, however, the women are dependent on TV stations broadcasting and sponsors investing. The latter often only happens when the media coverage is there. It's a vicious circle that is only just slowly being broken.
National coach André Korff already sees great progress, simply by constantly addressing the existing inequality. "Women's cycling is already taking on a different status - it's becoming more and more professional. It used to be very different," said the 48-year-old. Back then, the topic was "really neglected". Korff assumes that TV times, salaries and prize money will equalise at some point. "It will happen, but it will take time."
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