That’s how rough things are in women’s cycling. An insider reports

It’s a cold December day when I get the long-awaited call. It’s my future team manager on the phone and he tells me that I’ll be riding for the Italian Continental team Bepink-Bongioanni in 2024. There are currently two international leagues in women’s cycling: the World Tour and the Continental Tour, and my new team competes in the second highest level.

Three days later, I’m sitting in front of the Deepl translation of the contract, which is written in Italian. There’s no mention of a salary. Only my expenses are fully covered, so I don’t have to pay anything for travel, accommodation or meals. And all the material is made available to me.

 

It is not possible to make a living under these conditions. Nevertheless, they are not a given in all teams. Only World Tour teams, i.e. those in the highest league, are obliged to pay their athletes a minimum wage of 35,000 euros per year. In a few countries, there are also statutory minimum wage requirements of around 20,000 euros for Continental teams. A male professional in a World Tour team, on the other hand, can expect at least 60,000 euros per year. Despite the lack of a salary, I signed the contract; after all, without a team, I cannot ride in international road races.

Everyday racing is characterized by budget battles and improvisation

Maintaining a cycling team costs a lot of money. Every year, several Continental teams go out of business because they can’t make ends meet financially. During the season, which runs from February to October, my team will complete more than fifty races. Six riders will travel to each of these races, each with two bikes and three staff members. This is the low-budget option. World Tour teams usually travel with significantly more staff and equipment to ensure that the athletes have everything they need.

With only three staff members, the roles are quickly assigned: the sports director and the mechanic sit in the support vehicle, while the masseur drives the transporter and provides food on the track. In high temperatures, this is far from enough: this season I often had to ask other teams for water bottles during the races. In addition, the staff are not always sufficiently trained. For example: Since our team mechanic was not available for every race because of his full-time job, a pizza delivery person often took on the role of mechanic. It is therefore hardly surprising that our brakes sometimes dragged or the gear shift did not work properly.

We riders must not let all this deter us. We were hired to deliver results for the team. We are expected to perform at the highest level – regardless of how much we earn or how professionally we are supported. As an athlete without a salary, I regularly compete alongside riders who make a good living from cycling – and even a few who earn up to a million euros a year.

 

Sometimes no one fetches water for the others

The large wage gap within the women’s field has an impact on team tactics, especially in smaller teams. Many riders only have one-year contracts and are therefore racing for their own future – and less for the team. This creates a competitive dynamic among riders on the same team. Athletes from smaller teams hope to get a better contract next year by achieving a good personal result.

If they don’t make it to a World Tour team, it means the end of their cycling career for many of them. Most of them can’t afford to ride for a team for free for years. If you compare the team tactics of women with those of men, female athletes on a team are less likely to ride in close formation with one another. Instead, you can regularly see them sprinting against each other.

In my last road race, none of the riders fetched water from the support vehicle for the others. That would have cost too much energy. After all, everyone wanted to achieve a good result for themselves at the end of the season. In smaller teams like mine, that happens more often. The better the financial situation and structure of a team, the better the athletes function as a team.

Athletes slip into an eating disorder

And then there’s the issue of weight. In cycling, the better the ratio between wattage – i.e. how hard someone can pedal – and weight, the faster that person can climb a hill. That’s the theory. This has given rise to the belief that female cyclists (and of course male cyclists too) should weigh as little as possible in order to win races.

I have also been advised to lose a few kilos – sometimes with the threat that I would not be selected for a race if I did. But I am a track racing specialist and not a climber. I need my heavy muscles to win sprints. As a woman, I also need a minimal amount of fat so that my female cycle can function normally.

 

When it comes to weight, I also notice that the differences between the teams couldn’t be greater. On the one hand, there are teams that scientifically calculate exactly how many calories each athlete needs to consume at what time. On a race day, we’re talking about 4,000 to 6,000 kilocalories per athlete. On the other hand, I see teams that make sure that their riders don’t eat anything for five hours after the race and make do with a Caesar salad for dinner.

The topic of food is very present for female cyclists at many moments. It is therefore hardly surprising that many athletes slip into an eating disorder or become underweight. The insidious thing about it is that a small weight loss can initially have a positive effect on performance. Many report that they “flew” on the mountains for a season. But then they either had to stop due to exhaustion or needed years to get back to their previous level of performance.

In teams that only offer one-year contracts, the pressure on athletes to lose weight is higher. Such teams are happy to have those who “fly” for a season. Often, young riders in particular are unaware of the long-term psychological and physical risks associated with weight loss.

I can only hope that women’s cycling will become more professional in its approach to nutrition and that the belief that lighter is faster will disappear.

Can I have your water bottle?

A little girl tugs at my jersey. I turn around. She points to my water bottle and asks if she can have the bidon. Although women’s cycling still has a lot of potential for development, the conditions are already much better today than when I was the same age as this girl.

At the Cycling World Championships in Zurich, none of the precariousness of women’s sport will be seen. The race will be held in the splendor of a modern city, and the riders will be in the public spotlight. That’s a good thing. I will be watching the women’s World Championship race on TV on Saturday.

Cybèle Schneider, 28, is an elite cyclist from Basel. She is a member of the national track team and has been racing in road races for the Italian Bepink-Bongioanni team for a year. Since last May, the lawyer, who studied at the HSG, has been concentrating on cycling.