UCI will introduce guidelines for the use of podium girls but not scrap the practice
Hostesses will not be prohibited but their role at events may be altered
After the organizers of the Tour de France decided to stop using podium girls for award ceremonies at their event in 2018, the UCI has decided it’s time to introduce new guidelines for podium girls but will not prohibit their use at events under their umbrella.
The controversial practice of using podium girls and hostesses at bike races is often criticized for being outdated and sexist. Formula One and darts are two sports that have decided to stop using women in similar roles as has been traditionally used in bike racing recognizing it’s not fitting for their events in this day and age.
However, the UCI will not follow suit with UCI president David Lappartient revealing the issue had been discussed within the UCI. As the Telegraph first reported, new guidelines will be introduced but the UCI does not feel the practice needs to entirely be done away with.
The policies will first be introduced at UCI events like the world championships with the idea that the guidelines eventually being adopted by all events that are UCI registered.
“The UCI is reconsidering its medal award ceremonies to ensure the protocol is respectful of all participants,” Lappartient said. “We will set new guidelines, starting with UCI events such as world championships and disseminate them across all UCI registered events.”
The UCI has used podium hostesses at its world championship events in 2017 and 2018 including the road championships in Bergen and the recent track championships in Apeldoorn. UCI events like the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Tour Down Under have independently decided not to use hostesses in their podium ceremonies while the organizers of the organizers of the Giro d’Italia have affirmed their commitment to continuing using them in their events.
“RCS Sport believe that in this specific moment it is more of a temporary trend to remove podium girls from sport events,” Giro director Mauro Vegni recently told SBS.
Lappartient didn’t have any specifics on what the guidelines might look like. “The important thing is that it is respectful. I think we can have a mix. Sometimes I think it’s nice to have local women or men hand out the jerseys and the flowers in traditional costume from that area. Sometimes children maybe,” he said.
“What is important, I think, is that the costumes are not degrading in any way and no one is being exploited.”
