Change in British cycling: trans men can no longer compete in women’s competitions. It has a performance fund.

The British Cycling Federation prohibits trans women from participating in all-female competitions. As the association announced on Friday, the races will be divided into two categories in the future: in addition to “women’s”, it is still “open”. In future, trans women, trans men and people assigned a male gender at birth could register for this, British Cycling said in a statement.

Previous “men’s” competitions are also included in the new category. If they wish, those whose gender was determined as female at birth may also compete. The new “female” category, on the other hand, is only open to those who were assigned a female gender at birth and to trans men who have not yet started hormone treatment.

With the change, British Cycling is responding to a debate surrounding trans woman Emily Bridges who wanted to compete in a women’s race. Studies have shown that people who experience puberty as males have a distinct performance advantage that cannot be fully mitigated by testosterone suppression, the association emphasized. Previously, trans people were allowed to compete in women’s races if they did not exceed a certain testosterone level in the 12 months leading up to a race.

British Cycling is now deviating from the UCI world governing body’s position, which allows trans women to participate if testosterone levels have been below a certain number for two years. However, the UCI wants to review its regulations for August.

Trans or transgender people are people who do not feel they belong to the gender that was assigned to them at birth.