The Cyclists’ Alliance (TCA) has partnered with energy management specialist Supersapiens on a new initiative called The Cyclists Alliance Duty of Care Framework.
The aim of the initiative is to assist all stakeholders who play a part in the elite athletic performance of female professional cyclists to put the athlete’s mental and physical well-being first.
This aims to optimise the athlete’s overall wellbeing in conjunction with performance excellence to ensure that no athlete can unknowingly or knowingly push their body past its limitations and cause damaging long-term effects on the mind, body and its systems.
The Cyclists’ Alliance Duty of Care Framework will ensure that athletes… ‘feel empowered and nurtured, both physically and mentally, in the sport of women’s cycling.’
The proposed Cyclists’ Alliance Duty of Care Framework aims are:
- Educating and helping athletes to recognise symptoms and develop a range of self-management skills that they can utilise to manage physical or psychological distress through educational resources and workshops.
- Equipping key stakeholders in the elite sporting environment (such as team managers, coaches, sports directors, medical staff and high-performance support staff) to better understand, recognise and respond to concerns regarding an athlete’s mental and physical health through an annual conference/training/certification.
- Creating a minimum requirement of medial test and checks that athletes must meet in order to compete (to ensure the UCI current list is updated to cater to female athletes and that there is a clear roadmap to incorporate mandatory medical checks for both WWT & Continental teams to safeguard all riders).
“It has been clear to us at TCA from the very beginning that women’s cycling has different issues to men’s cycling, thus an independent union was needed to support female professional riders adequately,” said Gracie Elvin, former professional cyclist and Co-Founder of The Cyclists’ Alliance.
She continued, “Female health and performance is an issue we want to highlight as unique and important, and it is now coming to light that better education, resourcing, and support is needed for our riders and those that manage them.
“Knowledge is power, and we want to provide another aspect in giving power back to our female riders. Using evidence-based research and a panel of industry experts, with the support from Supersapiens, will enable us to push for a higher standard of health, well-being, and duty of care in professional women’s cycling.”
The proposed Cyclists’ Alliance Duty of Care Framework will cover a variety of topics and focus on the additional complexities of the female physiology that ‘must be taken into consideration for female professional cyclists’. Topics include but are not limited to:
- Menstrual health & contraceptive
- Breast health
- RED-S (relative energy deficiency)
- Concussion
- Cardiac screening
- Exercise-induced arterial endofibrosis (EIAE)
TCA adds that topics will be created and delivered by experts backed up by evidence-based research.
“Since our first conversations with TCA, we have been inspired by their core mission – to improve the lives of female cyclists before and after their careers,” said Phil Southerland, CEO and Founder of Supersapiens.
“The aim to empower and nurture athletes is perfectly aligned with our purpose at Supersapiens. We’re honoured to have the opportunity to work with TCA to help optimize the overall wellbeing of female athletes and empower each rider to reach her highest level of performance, both on and off the bike.”
Run by former and current pros, The Cyclists’ Alliance provides support to female cyclists during and after their careers. Funded purely by donations and subscriptions, the organisation’s aim is… ‘to level the playing field and help the hard-working women of today’s peloton make a living from the sport.’
www.cyclistsalliance.org
www.supersapiens.com
