Austin Killips: Transgender cyclist wins UCI event

Austin Killips started racing successful 2019

Austin Killips has go the archetypal transgender jock to triumph a UCI women's signifier contention astatine the Tour of the Gila successful New Mexico.

She thanked chap riders for their enactment aft "a week of nonsense connected the internet", but her triumph has reignited the statement implicit transgender athletes competing successful pistillate events. American three-time Olympian Inga Thompson said the UCI - cycling's planetary governing assemblage - was "killing disconnected women's cycling".

Killips - who started racing successful 2019 and besides competes successful cyclocross - finished 8 seconds up of Mexican rider Marcela Prieto connected signifier five, and topped the wide classification by 1 infinitesimal and 29 seconds.

She said connected Instagram: "After a week of nonsense connected the net I'm particularly thankful to everyone successful the peloton and athletics who proceed to affirm that Twitter is not existent life.

"I emotion my peers and competitors and americium grateful for each accidental I get to larn and turn arsenic a idiosyncratic and jock connected people together."

The UCI requires transgender women to suppress their testosterone levels to 2.5 nmol/L for a 24-month play anterior to competing successful pistillate events.

It toughened it rules connected eligibility successful 2022, with erstwhile regulations acceptable astatine 5 nmol/L for 12 months.

The UCI's transgender argumentation had been nether reappraisal aft being brought into the spotlight by British rider Emily Bridges, 1 of cycling's astir high-profile transgender competitors.

Its existent argumentation differs from those of different planetary governing bodies, specified arsenic World Athletics and World Aquatics (previously called Fina), which person banned transgender women from competing successful the pistillate class astatine planetary events.

Last year, British Cycling said transgender women were no longer capable to vie astatine elite pistillate events it ran aft the organisation suspended its existent policy.

Thompson told the Telegraph she expected Killips to "potentially spell on" to vie successful the Tour de France Femmes and the Paris Olympics, adding that "...women are conscionable softly walking away. They think, 'Why bother, if it's not fair?'".

Canada's Olympic metallic medallist Alison Sydor besides criticised Killips' participation, saying it was "no antithetic functionally than doping".

The Tour of the Gila is simply a UCI people 2.2 contention - the lowest ranked UCI people - successful New Mexico and has a full prize purse of $35,350 (£28,365), adjacent for some the men's and women's races.

In a statement, the Tour of the Gila said it "recognises the passionate statement regarding rider eligibility and classifications of riders acceptable by UCI and USA Cycling and encourages UCI and USA Cycling to big an unfastened treatment connected the matter".

Killips rides for the Amy D Foundation - an organisation acceptable up successful representation of American cyclist Amy Dombroski which "encourages and supports young women done cycling".

BBC Sport has approached the UCI for comment.