A 46-year-old biological male, who only took up cycling at age 40, cruised to first place at a women’s cycling race in New York City against much younger competition.
Tiffany Thomas won the Randall’s Island Criterium Race last weekend. Thomas recently landed a place on top professional cycling team LA Sweat, where her oldest teammate is just 32.
In an Instagram post following the victory, Thomas said it “was a great day to play bikes with friends. Last race with our 2022 LA Sweat team kit. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it made me feel like a superhero when I wore it.”
A female cyclist tweeted her belief that Thomas is “cheating”:
“Tiffany's teammates are all between the ages of 24 and 32. Amazing that Tiffany can keep up with them at the age of 46 after only starting cycling at age 40! Tiffany Thomas has been on countless podiums, going from a total beginner to the elite level in just 5 years.”
Another critic noted: “I feel so bad for woman athletes in America that have trained their entire lives. We are destroying woman's rights in America. They might as well just make every sport in this country co-ed. This is all so unfair.”
Thomas's victory came on the same weekend that there were online protests about the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships in Hartford, where transgender riders were included.
Austin Killips finished third in the women’s elite race – behind Clara Honsinger and Raylyn Nuss – becoming the first biological male to win a medal at the event. Jenna Lingwood, another trans athlete, finished fifth.
Hannah Arensman, who was fourth, later announced her retirement from the sport. She said that it had “become increasingly discouraging” to train and then lose to someone with an “unfair advantage”.
“At my last race at the recent UCI Cyclocross National Championships in the elite women's category, I came in fourth, flanked on either side by male riders awarded third and fifth,” Arensman said in her retirement announcement.
“My sister and family sobbed as they watched a man finish in front of me, having witnessed several physical interactions with him throughout the race,” Arensman said. “Additionally, it is difficult for me to think about the very real possibility I was overlooked for an international selection on the U.S. team at Cyclocross Worlds in February 2023 because of a male competitor.”
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