A man who claims to be a woman has won first place in the women’s category in a North Carolina cycling tour, making the race yet another win taken away from natural-born women.
On Saturday, the “Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina” took place in Hendersonville, where Austin Killips, a 27-year-old man who “identifies” as a woman, won in the women’s category.
According to Reduxx, Killips was in the lead in the women’s division from the outset of the race, and no other competitor ever came anywhere close to him except for a brief time at the midpoint when a woman passed him. But soon enough, Killips rallied and left his female opponents in the dust.
Killips has been taking titles away from women since 2019, when he decided he was a woman and began entering women’s cycling competitions.
In May, both USA Cycling and the Union Cycliste Internationale proclaimed that Killips met cycling’s rules for trans athletes, but his constant wins have met with resistance in cycling.
After Killips won the Tour of the Gila this year, former Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson tweeted that with its rules for trans women, the UCI was “effectively killing off women’s cycling.”
Thompson also urged female cyclists to start “taking a knee” and openly protesting the UCI’s rules that have been locking women out of titles nationwide.
It is time for Women Cyclist to start protesting @UCI_cycling Policy,” Thompson tweeted. “Start taking a knee at the starting lines. Team managers need to speak up and protect their riders. Hold signs at every race ‘Save Women’s Sports.’”
It is time for Women Cyclist to start protesting @UCI_cycling Policy. Start taking a knee at the starting lines. Team managers need to speak up and protect their riders. Hold signs at every race “Save Women’s Sports”. https://t.co/BIn3cSKPJm
— Inga Thompson Fdn OLY💚💜 (@ithompsonfdn) May 7, 2023
Recently, two women who won second and third to a man who claimed to be a woman and who won first place refused to take the winner’s podium with him after he won a race in Colorado.
Several advocates for women’s sports celebrated the incident, saying it was time for women to fight against the unfairness of men competing in women’s sports.
The silent protests are starting! The women are refusing to stand on the podium with the man! Well done!!! https://t.co/QazFxeoBLc
— Inga Thompson Fdn OLY💚💜 (@ithompsonfdn) May 16, 2023
Enough is enough! Empty podium except for the male who naturally finished atop all the women in the women’s category. Despite there being a non-binary/trans category he easily could have competed in. Keep it up girls! #SaveWomensSports https://t.co/OcFnyUezYi
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 16, 2023
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