Transgender cyclist refuses to race with men after UK women’s race ban: ‘Will it be safe?’

Transgender cyclist Emily Bridges will not compete in a men's or open-category race, suggesting it is not safe.

Bridges, a biological man who began identifying as a woman in 2020, was ruled to be ineligible to compete in the British National Omnium Championship in 2022. That Union Cycliste Internationale race would have been Bridges’s first women’s race. Still today, Bridges refuses to race in any other category, according to an interview with ITV News.

"Will it be safe for me to compete in an open category?” Bridges said. "A ban is a ban. You can say you can compete in the open category, but we’re women — we should be able to race in the women’s category."

British Cycling subsequently banned all transgender cyclists and nonbinary cyclists from its competitive races. Despite the ban, Bridges is challenging transgender eligibility in court, claiming to have collected the cyclist's own medical data to try to prove a point in the European Court of Human Rights.

Bridges competed as a man as recently as 2021. Bridges finished 43rd out of 45 riders in the elite men’s criterium at the Loughborough Cycling Festival and was second to last in the Welsh National Championship men’s road race a 12-kilometer lap behind the winner last in 2021. In February 2022, the then-21-year-old won the men’s British Universities Championship for Cycling.

"I don't care if I never compete again. It's for other people who want to compete, and it's just about what's right," Bridges said.

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"We acknowledge the decision of the UCI with regards to Emily’s participation, however we fully recognise her disappointment with today’s decision," a statement from British Cycling read.

British Cycling did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment. The British National Track Championships, which includes indoor cycling, is slated to take place this week.