At the start of the year in a bid to increase participation in the league, it was decided to run a separate womens only race in the day’s races to encourage and support the development of womens racing in the sport.

The first round in the series saw a huge number of over 100 female riders take part and percentage wise has remained good throughout the season as a number of promoting clubs have put on specific training sessions for riders including Whitchurch Cycling club who are promoting the upcoming round this weekend in Newport once again.

“We believe Cyclo-Cross provides the perfect opportunity for women to come and try competitive cycling, the courses provide a challenge for riders of all abilities and is truly accessible on almost any bike.

Changes were made to the format of the day to include a womens only race at senior level, and although relatively low in comparison to other categories, we need to provide an avenue for the countless number of young girls to progress in the sport for future years." – Dan Coast, Regional Development Officer

Percentage wise female membership has averaged at around 30% of the total participants in the rounds to date but with the offer of additional coaching from a number of clubs to support new riders it’s hoped this will increase further.

We're keen to support more clubs to offer more specific womens coaching sessions to further prepare riders in future event’s, If your club offers womens only coaching sessions please let your local Club Development Officer know about them.