Enduro mountain bike racer, Ares Masip, has spoken out about an alleged sexual assault incident that she experienced while at a UCI Mountain Bike World Series event held in Leogang, Austria in 2023.
The Spanish cyclist, who resides in Andorra, has filed a complaint with the international cycling union, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
Masip made a public statement in a video posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday that described the sexual assault incident in detail. She said she told the person to stop but that they covered her mouth and grabbed her arms.
"I wanted to scream, push him away and run," she said.
"Hey, I'm Ares Masip an MTB rider and in 2023 I suffered sexual abuse in Leogang World Cup paddock by a rider," Masip said as she opened her video statement.
"The race was very long, so I had been sleeping in my van for hours. He came at dawn and was trying to force me to have sexual relations with him. Since the very start, I refused and rejected him. He kept rubbing his penis over my body, tried to kiss me and kept insisting.
"I was just asking him to stop. I wanted to scream, push him away and run. He covered my mouth, grabbed my arms and repeated that he would rape me while he tried to undress me."
The UCI has confirmed to Cyclingnews that Masip has reported allegations of sexual abuse, and according to Esport 3, she has also reported the same allegations to the Catalan Cycling Federation or the Ministry of Sports of Andorra.
"At first I tried to forget it and pretend that nothing happened. But months went by, we coincided at races and I felt more disgust and rejection. Slowly, I became conscious of how bad the situation was and I decided to file a complaint. When it comes to law, I don't know what will happen. It's not been an easy process," Masip said.
"I wanted to make it public, because, unfortunately, these cases are way too frequent. I finally broke the silence because I believe that it's possible to build a society more equal and safe. Enough of so much impunity."
"The Spanish MTB Enduro rider Ares Masip has indeed reported allegations of sexual abuse in the context of a cycling event involving another rider," The UCI wrote in a statement to Cyclingnews.
"The UCI is currently investigating the matter with a view to referring it to the UCI Ethics Commission. Due to the nature of the allegations, the UCI shall not make any further comments."
"We were shocked, extremely saddened and at the same time furious to learn about the case of sexual abuse suffered by Ares. It comes as a shock too to realise that something like this could happen during a Mountain Bike event. Mountain Biking is a sport that should transmit values of fun, happiness and respect, and of course, must be a safe place for all," the company wrote in a statement on Instagram.
"Ares Masip is a very valued member of the Forestal Team and counts with all our support for coping with this case. We take advantage of our platform to publicly condemn the horrible events that have come to light today, trusting that the full weight of the law will fall on those who should fall and thus serve as an example so that cases like this never happen again."
