Both the men’s and the women’s WorldTour pelotons are currently in China, racing the Tour of Guangxi and Tour of Chongming Island stage races, respectively.
The men’s race consists of six stages, including a hilltop finish, and covers much of the province of Guangxi. The women’s race, one for the sprinters, is only three stages long and takes place exclusively on the islands of Chongming and Changxing in the Yangtze estuary, though the women will travel to Guangxi afterwards for a one-day race on the day of the men’s final stage.
The difference in live coverage, however, highlights how much women’s cycling still is short-changed.
While the Tour of Guangxi had been on broadcast schedules well in advance, live coverage of the Tour of Chongming Island was only confirmed the day before stage 1 when the race organisers said that the final hour of racing would be transmitted live.
This held true for stage 1, even though the screen went black several times during the coverage due to technical difficulties.
For stage 2, the broadcast was announced to start at 13:05 Chinese Standard Time (UTC+8) – but due to a combination of technical issues and a slower-than-expected race, this was pushed back by 15-minute increments several times.
Eventually, the live coverage only started at 14:02 CST, when the race was just 19km from the finish. 26 minutes later, the stage finished, and another 15 minutes of post-stage coverage added up to a total of 41 minutes – below the UCI’s mandatory 45 minutes of live coverage per race day.
Compare and contrast with stage 2 of the Tour of Guangxi where coverage began with 52.6 km to go, showing 65 minutes of racing plus another 17 minutes after the stage had finished.
Both races are produced by the same host broadcaster, as evidenced by both broadcasts using the same layout for their on-screen graphics.
Only days after the Gravel World Championships saw the men’s race enjoy live broadcast while the women’s race wasn’t to be seen anywhere, this disparity continues to put a spotlight on the inequality between the men’s and women’s sides of our sport.
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