November 20 2025, 08:15 
Multiple cisgender women have turned down spots on a list of the top female cyclists in the U.K. because the organization compiling the list banned trans women.
“If they don’t want to ride with all women, then it’s not the kind of ride I want to be part of,” Claire Sharpe told the BBC of Cycling U.K.
Related
Sports organization bans trans women & tells them to get therapy instead
According to the outlet, the cycling charity’s 2025 100 Women in Cycling list is its first in nine years to exclude transgender women. The decision reportedly came in response to the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year that the legal definition of a woman under the country’s 2010 Equality Act is based on “biological sex.”
“For our awards to comply with the law we have to limit who can be considered for an award to biological women only,” Cycling U.K. chief executive Sarah Mitchell told the BBC. “This change to the awards doesn’t alter our strong commitment to including and supporting all those who cycle, including transgender and non-binary people. We truly believe cycling is for all, and we’ll keep working towards that goal.”
Insights for the LGBTQ+ community
Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
But Sharpe, a cycling guide and coach from Bristol, said that excluding trans women flies in the face of the list’s intent.
“[The list] was originally set up to celebrate women who inspire, encourage and empower people to experience the joy of cycling,” she said. “By excluding trans and non-binary people, it’s just not doing what I think it was set up to do. It excludes people that have helped create the community that I was nominated for.”
Sharpe told the BBC that she is one of four women from the Bristol cycling community alone who declined to be ranked on the organization’s 2025 list. As Scene reports, endurance cyclist Dr. Sarah Ruggins and Herne Hill Velodrome women’s development lead Megan Joy Barclay are also among those who have turned down spots.
“I always saw these awards as a celebration of grassroots and community power in the face of gender marginalization – hateful laws have no place here,” Barclay wrote in an October 28 Instagram post. “Riding bikes is my safe place in this sometimes devastating world and everyone should be welcome to that experience. I hope Cycling UK will reconsider their position next year.”
Barclay told Cycling Weekly earlier this month that turning down the honor “felt like an amazing opportunity to be an ally.”
“This isn’t something I feel I can represent and be a part of, because it goes against everything I believe in and stand for,” she explained. “It felt so shocking to see, when there’s already so much hate in this space.”
In a letter to Cycling U.K. posted to Instagram earlier this month, Ruggins wrote that she would not accept recognition from a committee that has chosen to align with the U.K. Supreme Court’s decision to define womanhood by sex assigned at birth.
“This stance excludes trans women and other minorities, denying them the dignity, inclusion, and opportunity they deserve,” she wrote. “Trans women are women. Their exclusion from women’s categories and spaces sends a message that undermines the very principles of fairness, respect, and unity that sport is meant to uphold.”
