Brian Cookson: Forcing WorldTour teams and races to have women's equivalents wouldn't be sustainable

The UCI president also said Britain should be proud to be hosting some of the world's leading women's events

The front group on stage four of the 2017 Women's Tour

(Image credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

Current UCI president Brian Cookson has told Cycling Weekly that it wouldn't work if the governing body forced men's teams to have equivalent women's teams, or WorldTour events to have equivalent events.

Cookson said it would not be a 'sustainable' plan for women's cycling, and that the sport needs to "encourage, support and promote women’s cycling" even further.

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Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, covering professional cycling and specialising in women's road racing. He has followed races such as the Women's Tour and Giro d'Italia Donne, live-tweeting from Women's WorldTour events as well as providing race reports, interviews, analysis and news stories. He has also worked for race teams, to provide post race reports and communications.