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Ellen van Dijk got a vibrator as a prize for winning a UCI race

The world champ won the opening TT of Bloeizone Fryslân

There’s been a lot of progress in women’s racing lately, with the announcement of the Tour de France Femmes, the inaugural Paris-Roubaix, (slightly) increased TV coverage, and long-terms plans to create parity with salaries between pro men. There’s obviously still a ways to go, but the world time trial champion posted a cheeky tweet about the evolution of prizes in women’s cycling. When the Dutch rider got on the podium, she was given her leader’s jersey. As well as a gift basket. In the basket, from the race title sponsor, EasyToys, was a cornucopia of gifts, all with a similar theme. After the race she tweeted that, “prizes in women’s cycling are improving.”

The race’s sponsor EasyToys, is as you can guess, an erotic website which sells a wide range of sex-related products. That means that van Dijk got a vibrator, some “play socks,” a blindfold, some Kama Sutra playing cards, and a bottle of personal lubricant.

When the company announced its sponsorship of the race, they said they are committed to women’s cycling, as well as the social movement behind it.

The replies to her tweet were definitely supportive of the prizes.

“If a man were rewarded with great sex for winning a race, I’m sure he’d be stoked. When it’s a woman, it becomes awkward. We talk a lot about gender equality, and the way we react to situations like this determines if we perpetuate or eliminate these double standards,” pro cyclist Kristen Faulkner tweeted.

“Another weird thing is, if you win a pig at Tro Bro Leon, it’s cool and funny. If you win a box of sex toys, it’s weird and inappropriate. Are we still that afraid of sex? Or to be more specific: of women having sex,’ CyclingEverything tweeted.

Of course, some of the replies joked about the more practical, cycling-related uses of the prizes. “Blindfold is clearly for the transfers between stages to help you sleep and that vibrating massager is for muscles right?,” PBXscribes tweeted.