Empower, influence, transform, inspire - Women at the forefront of the race to advance professional cycling

Twenty-five years ago, women in cycling was mainly confined to those competing in races, a few soigneurs, and the perfunctory podium girls. For sure, there would have been a few women involved in cycling management on the branding or team management side, but they were considered a rarity.   

Things have moved on in leaps and bounds since then, and there is now a sizeable peloton of women involved in the development of cycling, with some woman taking the lead in defining the future trends and direction in the sport.

Women in cycling management, be it within teams, brands, governance or governments have now become commonplace, and this has helped to fuel the snowball effect of inspiring more women to roll to the front of this chain gang of frontrunners.

There are countless women who could be listed. Cyclingnews highlights some of the standout performances.

Bonnie Tu - Former CEO of Liv/Giant (recently retired)

When she took over as Chair of Liv/Giant in 2017 she could already be proud to have been the driver behind the company’s move into the production of a female-specific range of bikes, Liv, back in 2008. 

It wasn’t just a case of altering handlebars and saddles but starting right from the drawing board with women in mind. So, for her, it was important to build a bicycle for women “from the ground up”. 

Liv bicycles have been an established brand in women’s cycling and they have been responsible for supporting many of the top professional teams, be it Liv-Plantur, CCC-Liv, and now Liv-Jayco-AlUla. 

The company has also sponsored the Tour de France Femmes since its first edition in 2022.

“When I started cycling I was so shocked that I couldn’t find anything for women – not even a jersey for women – and I ended up wearing men’s extra small clothing and riding a men’s bike. That was in 2007, and I decided something had to be done. Before I became a cyclist I was a golfer, since the 1970s. There was female clothing and by the 1990s, female golfing equipment. So that’s why I felt confident that we should bring that concept to the bike industry," she said.

“My competitors were still saying ‘You don’t have to have a women’s specific-bikes – just take the contact points on a men’s bike’. So I reply that if that theory exists then the bike should be built for women and then change the contact points for men! If they can accept that then I can accept their theory! At Liv, we are very proud of the commitment that we have shown to women’s cycling.”

Kate Veronneau - Director of Women's Strategy, Zwift

After partnering with Zwift while at her previous company to run a virtual cycling competition with a trip to the Tour de France as a prize, Kate Veronneau joined the virtual cycling platform to run a women’s global cycling talent identification challenge, known as Zwift Academy. The winner gained a one-year contract racing with Canyon-SRAM professional racing team. At the time many people were sceptical of the idea, but it proved to be a success, with a men’s competition also being established.

Since then, Zwift has been involved in many initiatives and this virtual bike racing platform has helped to expand cycling in many ways and particularly to grow women’s cycling. During the pandemic when cycling outdoors was banned in many countries, Zwift held a Tour for All. 

This then led to the company being the headline sponsors of the Tour de France Femmes and the Paris Roubaix Femmes. Furthermore, in the year when the first-ever World Road Racing Championships are being held in Africa, Veronneau has been instrumental in working with Team Africa Rising and with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio in their projects to provide training facilities for African cyclists.

“At Zwift we can do things differently within the cycling industry and expand the sport in a ways to open up the sport to a wider audience - that is more inclusive, more accessible, more global. We have more women and newer riders coming into the sport, and in a less intimidating way. I love that.”

Marion Rousse - Director of Tour de France Femmes

Marion Rousse has been involved in cycling since childhood. Coming from a family of cyclists, in which she was watching her father race while she was in a buggy, and her cousins also raced, cycle racing was in their DNA. 

“We would plan our lives around cycle racing, to either watch a race on TV or from the side of the road.”  

In fact, her parents whom she visits when back in her native Northern France, live very close to one of the cobbled sectors of the Paris-Roubaix. Her 25-career in cycling started at the age of six, and while racing for Lotto Soudal she sealed victory at the French national championships in 2012, then retired in 2015 to pursue a career in broadcasting and also as a race organiser.  

So when she was offered the role of Director of the Tour de France Femmes it was a no-brainer to accept the role. What does she like most about her role? 

“I am very happy to make a difference in the world of women’s cycle racing. I didn’t get the opportunity to have this sort of race during my career, but I feel glad to be part of the evolution of women’s cycling. My motivation is for us to reach a situation when the sight of a woman in a bike race is a perfectly normal thing when people switch on their televisions.”

Amina Lanaya - Director-General of UCI

The second in command at the World Governing Cycling body, alongside President David Lappartient, Amina Lanaya assumed this role in 2017, after having joined the organisation in 2006 and worked her way up through the ranks. 

A lawyer by trade, her remit is to look after the technical aspects of cycling governance, including setting of rules in cycle races. 

Furthermore, she has a personal wish to ensure that women’s cycling develops at a realistic pace in a way that is sustainable and can lead to future where women of all levels can compete on a fair playing field.

“We have made a lot of progress in women’s cycling, especially in the last five to ten years. It is great to see, but we must also focus on trying to give depth to women’s cycling so that smaller teams are not left behind as women’s cycling grows," she said.

"I am very proud of the work we have done and it is always a great thing to see proper competitions between the women, not just with one team dominating. I am very motivated to continue the work that we started in 2017.”

Beth Duryea - Co-Founder of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto

As founder and Communications Manager for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, Beth Duryea is proud of the achievements of one of the few standalone Women’s WorldTeam. 

The team has a history of harbouring record holders, World Champions, as well as the current Tour de France Femmes champion, Kasia Niewiadoma. The team has a policy of nurturing new riders through its Zwift Academy programme and also riders from smaller nations through its Canyon-Sram Generation development team. 

Now in its fourth year, the team currently includes Selam Amha Gerefiel from Tigray, Ethiopia, and Diane Ingabire, Rwanda National Champion. Ricarda Bauernfeind,  who came up through the ranks of the Generation team made her mark at WorldTour level when she won a stage of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Beth is keen to help riders develop their careers, including those who may not necessarily follow the traditional route.

“In our team, we want to provide this opportunity to riders who are under-represented in the pro peloton.  There are a lot of additional challenges for riders who come from various parts of the world and we want to help them try to realise their dream of being WorldTour pro cyclists. As a team with our experience, infrastructure, support and commitment we can lower some of the barriers or provide opportunities. It’s also a learning experience for us, and something we’re happy to have on board. Personally, it’s one of my proudest moments in the team’s history," she said.

“With Zwift Academy, I hope that we’re showing that there are other ways to make it to the pro peloton, not just the traditional ways. We hope that we’re continuing to find new ways to identify talent and help bring them to pro cycling but also that we can encourage other teams to look at that and the wider sport of women’s cycling, not just focus on their own WorldTour ambitions.”

Kimberly Coats - CEO of Africa Rising

Having been CEO of Africa Rising, the organisation that promotes cycle racing in Africa and supports African riders since 2017, Coats has worked tirelessly to put in place various schemes – training sessions for aspiring riders in their facilities in Rwanda, support for riders to train at the UCI centres in South Africa and in Switzerland, and help for riders trying to obtain Visas to race in Europe. 

There is a current focus on women’s cycling, as Coats believes that this is the key to help women gain self confidence and feel empowered. Africa Rising therefore not only organises training sessions for women, but also courses for if they want to become soigneurs, work for a cycling federation, or become mechanics. The latter is very important because women have spoken of difficulties they encounter when they take their bike for repairs at existing mechanics workshops. 

“One woman who did a mechanics course with us was so happy and said, ‘I can now fix my bike without having to go to a mechanic and the man there is asking me to do things for them first.’”

What Coates loves about her job is being able to make a difference to the lives of women in Africa. “I love getting those small wins. It makes the work I do so worthwhile.” 

However, she knows her work is not done, as she is currently raising funds to stage the women’s Tour of Lunsar in Sierra Leone. Her motivation is to keep soldiering away until every woman in Africa has access to cycling or feels that they can take part in a cycling-related if they wish.

Fran Millar - CEO of Rapha Clothing

After spending 12 years with Team Sky/Team Ineos, followed by four years at clothing brand Belstaff, Fran Millar has moved to one of the biggest brands in cycling clothing, as Chief Executive Officer of Rapha. 

She has always been focused on the business side of cycling since the early part of her career in the noughties, when she managed her professional bike racing brother, David. 

This was then followed by organising elite races for men and women – especially at a time when women didn’t have so many elite races on the UK calendar. Then in 2008 she worked with David Brailsford and Team Sky in the project to get a British man to win the Tour de France. 

“I am motivated by mentoring and nurturing people. One of my proudest moments was when Geraint Thomas won the Tour de France. It’s because I had managed him when he was just a teenager, and right up to adulthood. So to see all that work come to fruition gave me a massive satisfaction," she said.

In her current role, Fran Millar wants to mentor and set an example to young women executives in the workplace. 

“Although I have not been held back in my career because of my gender. Now, when I look back I think that there were moments when there were very subtle examples of everyday sexism. A guy I have known for many years always used to ask me to make the tea – he never asked any of the men. When I challenged him about it, he said, ‘You’re the personality to not object to that.’ When I pointed out to him that this was unconscious bias he realised and was apologetic. So, I think it’s important to call out this sort of thing for the sake of women in the future.”

Delphine Ernotte - CEO of France Televisions and European Broadcast Union

Delphine Ernotte Cunci has been at the head of the French public service broadcaster since 2015. She is the first woman to occupy such a role, and the first one to head the European Broadcast Union, a role she assumed in 2021. 

Previously CEO of Orange, one of her roles at the broadcaster has been to ensure good free-to-air sports coverage on France 2 and France 3, including of cycling. 

She has also been keen to put women’s sport, notably cycling to the fore and says it was a proud moment to be able to broadcast the whole of the Tour de France Femmes in its entirety.

“The Tour de France has existed on France Televisions since forever and we are very proud of that. It is quite an undertaking transmitting the race, especially as the route changes every year," she said.

"All the film crew and journalists are totally worn out by the end of it, but we are really happy to have contributed to showing the race and how it plays out among the racers. We are also really proud to be putting women’s sport to the fore, especially with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and women’s football.” 

Cherie Pridham - Head of Sports, UAE Team ADQ

When Cherie Pridham joined Israel Start-Up Nation in 2020 she was the first woman to be a sports director of a men’s WorldTour team. A few years later, as sports director at Lotto-Dstny she was the first female sports director to lead a WorldTeam to a victory – with Thomas de Gendt at a stage of the 2022 Giro d’Italia, and with Arnaud de Lie at the Grand Prix de Québec the following year. 

Until 2024, Pridham had only ever managed male cycling teams during her 14-year career in cycling team management. So as Head of Sports at UAE Team ADQ women’s WorldTour team she brings a wealth of experience.

“I never thought about the significance of joining the WorldTour, as the only woman at the time. I didn’t see myself as the woman sports director. I was just a sports director – and I didn’t see myself as any different to my male colleagues. I think my proudest moment was making and showing the women that you can step into this world and work across both. I’ve got stage wins in the men’s giro d’Italia and one in the women’s giro d’Italia, so it’s a nice to say you can do that across both fields," she said.

“If I compare things with the way the way they were when I walked in on 1 January 2024 I can see that women’s cycling have moved on very quickly. If you wanted to be involved with women’s racing, now is the moment – the train is in the station and it’s a good place to be.

“There’s no secret that this team wants to work to be the best in the world, and be on par with our men’s UAE Emirates Team. Rome wasn’t built in the day and we are using our strengths to the best of our ability.

“It’s very important to give opportunities to younger riders and we are fortunate in that we have a development team to monitor and see women progress the right way and at the right stage to race at WorldTour level.”

Giusy Virelli - Director of the Giro d'Italia Women

Giusy Virelli is a name that has come to prominence in the last couple of years, as the Director of the re-launched Giro d’Italia Women, which was adopted by RCS Sport, organisers of the men’s Giro d’Italia, and women's and men's Strade Bianche, and the Milan-San Remo. The latter will see the women’s event taking place on March 22, reborn after a 20-year hiatus. 

Virelli has been with the sports management company since 2009 and has worked alongside director, Mauro Vegni on all of the company’s cycling brands. Having the remit of driving the women’s portfolio of events is a dream role, as women’s sports is an area where she has always wanted to make a difference.

“In my team of three women and one man, we have worked hard to put on a race that is challenging for the riders and exciting racing for the spectators. Some people commented that the course is too hard for the women. But I know that women are just as capable of riding these stages as men. I am very pleased to be managing the organisation of this prestigious race, especially doing it as a mum to a toddler. For me, this is an example of female empowerment."

Iris Slappendel - Co-Founder of The Cyclists’ Alliance

After retiring from professional racing in 2017, Iris Slappendel identified a need for a bureau to provide support to professional women’s racers. 

High-profile cases of abuse of riders had shown that there was a need for a place for women to speak in confidence about their working and welfare conditions as professional racers. 

Along with Gracie Elvin and Carmen Small, The Cyclists’ Alliance was founded. As well as the organisation providing support and advice to racers, it carries out research and publishes reports into conditions such as salary levels, and health conditions that particularly affect women. 

This has provided a much-needed space for women racers, something for which Iris Slappendel is passionate about.

Honourable mentions

• Monica and Paola Santini – CEO and Marketing Director (respectively) of Santini Sportswear, producers of winners’ jerseys for the Tour de France and World Championships
• Nelly Mukazayire - Rwandan Minister of Sports involved in organising the World Road Race Championships
• Aurore Amaury, CEO of L'Equipe Media, which includes L’Equipe Newspaper and Television sports media outlets
• Pauline Ballet - Sports photographer for Amaury Sports Organisation at Tour de France and all the companies’ other brands
• Anne Hidalgo - Mayor of Paris responsible for increasing the level of active travel in the city, notably among women
• Anna van der Breggen - former World Champion and Sports Director SD Worx-Protime, comeback from retirement as a professional racer in 2025