The Wines2Whales mountain bike event made history when it announced a dedicated women-only start batch today.
The women’s race will take place during the Chardonnay event – the first in the series from October 26 to 28 – and remains the highest prize purse for women per stage in the world.
This decision was praised by dormakaba rider Candice Lill, who finished second with teammate Vera Adrian last year.
Candice Lill, pictured at the finish of the Attakwas Extreme MTB Challenge, praised the Wines2Whales organisers’ decision to introduce a dedicated women-only start batch. Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
“It is very exciting. A higher prize purse always makes the racing that much more intense and also draws a bigger field to the start line,” said Lill.
“These are two factors that have been lacking in women’s racing in previous years, but I believe that we, the racers and the event organisers, have made significant steps in the right direction.”
Lill added that decisions like these would take women’s racing from strength to strength.
“This will make it viable for more female professional cyclists to make a career and a living from racing, which means more women on the start line, more exciting racing, which transforms into an exponential growth for the sport.”
This does not mean that other categories cannot enter the Chardonnay race. Men’s, women’s and mixed teams will be allowed to enter any of the races, but the prize money will specifically be given to the top three women’s category teams.
