CAPPELLOTTO: «WOMEN RIDERS, WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU ARE THE CPA»
from 07/07/20
During the CPA General Assembly which took place at the end of June, the female chapter had the opportunity to officially present the members and ambassadors of CPA Women. In the presence of UCI President David Lappartient, female athletes thanked the world riders’ association chaired by Gianni Bugno for what it is doing to defend their rights.
The CPA Steering Committee and the UCI President greeted the representatives of Africa (Ashleigh Moolman Pasio), Belgium (Femke Verstichelen), France (Elisabeth Chevanne Brachet - Marion Clignet), Croatia (Mia Radotic), Japan (Eri Yonamine), Italy (Maria Giulia Confalonieri), Kazakhstan (Amilija Iskakova), Mexico and Central America (Alessandra Giuseppina Grassi), Nigeria (Joy Wachuwn), Poland(Anna Plichta) and Spain (Isabel Martin Martin), who will soon be joined by colleagues from the USA and Rwanda.
«The women’s movement is growing and getting more united with the inclusion of more and more athletes who are willing to work together to protect their interests. Since its creation in 2017, CPA Women has fought for women riders, the protagonists of a sport that has an incredible potential and considerable margins for growth. To make the quality leap which this sector deserves, there is still a lot to do, in terms of contracts, salaries, insurance, training and post-career, but we are on the right track. The CPA’s mission is not only to represent female athletes globally with cycling stakeholders, but also – and above all – to help them create their national associations. If we really want to globalize cycling and open it to all female athletes, there are countries where cycling is still a “young” discipline that can play a major role for the future of the sport. The CPA is supporting women riders in their countries of origin to give the movement visibility, make it stronger and confident – especially in developing or disadvantaged countries – to protect them and promote their role as professionals. The goal of the union is indeed to defend its weakest members thanks to the strength of the group. We want all women riders in the world, wherever they are, to feel like proud members of the CPA» states Alessandra Cappellotto, coordinator of CPA Women, which is expanding to a growing number of nations.
The message was heard by all the riders who took part in the first virtual General Assembly. It was also embraced enthusiastically by the president of the Union Cycliste Internationale, who promised to work to improve the condition of female athletes.
«In only few years we have already achieved several important goals: we have obtained higher prize money, we have improved racing logistics, we have provided legal advice to athletes who had issues with their teams, we have tried to resolve disputes that arose in the transition from one team to another, we have made advantageous agreements for the athletes», continues the winner of the 1997 World Championship in San Sebastian. «Collaboration with the UCI, race organizers and team managers is proactive and it has grown stronger during this critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to promote the growth of the movement, we need to be even more united and to work together. For the near future, in addition to resuming activities and creating new national associations, our priorities are ensuring the safety and visibility of events, protecting athletes with regard to the various forms of “virtual” cycling which are attracting more and more fans, achieving better recognition for all and promoting development teams where the champions of the future can grow».
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