3 Lessons from the Tour de France

Part 1

Sexism in Sports

One of the good things about getting older is a. you care less what people think and b. no one cares what you think. You are basically invisible anyway. One of the bad things is you can see that, well, nothing really changes.

On Global Cycling Network (GCN), where I get my cycling fix (mostly because Robbie McEwen moved from Australian TV, and I wish they had him announcing at the finish line), there is a commentator on the post-race show named Orla Chennaoui. Orla is everything you would want in a TV commentator: enthusiastic, knowledgeable, fun, and passionate. She also speaks French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, so she can understand almost everything any cyclist says.

Too bad she is a woman because that is the one thing that some people can’t accept.

The amount of sexist nonsense that people say about her is unfortunately not surprising, especially if it was, I don’t know, 1952. I use that year in particular because I am reading a fabulous book called Lessons in Chemistry, set in 1952 when a woman – how dare she – gets a degree in chemistry.

As I said, apparently, nothing really changes.

Orla doesn’t fit the mould; she is bold, and that is as bad as you can be, according to some. I hope she never changes, she is fantastic, and really I don’t care what you think about her clothing, because well, Women’s Beach Volleyball, yeah?

I mention Beach Volleyball because the women basically wear nothing, and the men wear board shorts. Which is similar to the men on the GCN post-race show.  They wear what they like, from polo shirts to hoodies. I don’t think it affects their ability to do their job, and I don’t care what they wear.

Orla also wears what she likes, and by the way, the woman is beautiful and dresses like a supermodel. How dare she? However, this is not the point. It doesn’t change her abilities. It shouldn’t matter, but it does.

And still, here we are in 2022, where the pro sport with the smallest pay gap is tennis. Men only make 34% more than women.

And women still have to wear those short skirts. So please don’t talk to me about what Orla wears.

Most women who work in sports or fitness or chemistry (see above) are used to the subtle and not-so-subtle questioning of their abilities.

They also earn a lot less.

When it comes to earnings in men’s and women’s sports, there is no comparison.

In 2021, US pro sports teams paid:

NBA $8 million  vs WBA $75,000

Golf Men 1.2 million vs Women $50,000

Baseball Men $4 million vs Women’s Softball $ 6,000

What about cycling?

Women’s pro-cyclists can make $28,000 per year.

The men’s Pro Continental riders can make $26,000 to $171,000 before endorsements and prize money. For most cyclists, it is not about the money. There are much easier ways to make a living. I really can’t imagine that level of suffering for the money. No, cyclists don’t do it for the money.

It is brutally hard.

This is all to point out that sports still aren’t equal or fair. But to heap abuse on a commentator based on her outfit, her personality, or her depth of knowledge has nothing to do with fairness. It is about being a bully. Nothing more.

Isn’t it time for a change?

Now I have to get back to watching the tour and riding my bike.

Shayla

BTW, if you want to know who is the greatest cyclist of all time, it’s Marianne Voss.

Haven’t heard of her? She has more wins than Eddy Merckx. She is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT of cycling).

You can watch her in action here