'We had way more interest than we ever thought' - Inside the UK's women’s racing boom

This piece is part of Cycling Weekly's special International Women's Day issue, which you can buy in store for £3.25, or online for £4.50, including delivery.

For the first time ever, there are six British women’s teams racing at UCI Continental level, pointing to a boom in British cycling. Alba Development Road Team, DAS-Handsling, Doltcini O’Shea, Hess, Lifeplus Wahoo, and Pro-Noctis-200° Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting are all flying the Union Flag at the second-highest level, but there’s more to women’s racing than this.

While there has been much talk about the peril that the men’s domestic scene is facing, with British Cycling going to lengths to try and fix the situation, three women’s team managers spoke to Cycling Weekly to discuss their realities.

Jen Lemen - PDQ Property Elite

PDQ Property Elite have only been around since August 2023, and were set up in the South-West of England to set up women on their racing journey, as their captain and co-owner, Jen Lemen, explained.

“What I realised was needed was a regional development team, which was really focused on just giving women the confidence to get on the start line,” she said. “We're funding entries to the British Team Cup for the riders, and we just want people to get to the start line of races and know someone else there.

“We had way more interest than we ever thought,” Lemen continued. “We have a roster about 27/28 riders, some of whom have never raced before, some of whom are quite seasoned. It goes from 20 up to the early 60s.”

The goals are low at the moment, just giving “as many women as much support as possible”, but the levels of interest suggest that the team is filling a gap. With some of the riders just getting started, Lemen thinks that what would be helpful is more races for the least experienced.

“I think it's on the up in general,” she said of racing. “Seeing 30 women at our trial race in February was a great sign… There's so much racing on the calendar, but maybe if we had some more fourth-cat races to get people started, that would be good.”

Billy Oliver - FTP Racing

FTP, or Fulfil The Potential, is a domestic British women’s team into its third year of existence. Its ambition is to be competitive at National A races, as well as to compete in races in Belgium and France this season. It began as a women’s team, and now has a development squad - FTP Fusion - and a smaller men’s squad off the back of that.

“Women's cycling is having a really big upturn at the moment,” its manager, Billy Oliver, explained. “I think if you look generally, it seems the men's scene is struggling in places. Not everything has caught up with that yet. We're a small budget team compared to a lot, but we look to support the riders above everything else. We've got a mental health programme set up, with a mental health professional who offers a one-to-one service.

“We try to offer a rider-first approach from the start. It's hard, though, there's a bigger pool of women but also more teams trying to get those riders too. We're working hard to build our team up, so we can get the best talent.”

“It's very hard to attract the right sponsors to a women's team, but people are now looking at women's cycling a lot more seriously,” he continued. “We've come into it without preconceptions, which has been good, because we're just thinking about the team.”

Bob Lyons - Alba Development Road Team

The Alba Development Road Team stepped up to Continental level in 2024, offering its riders a bigger platform to showcase their talents and improve themselves. Nine of its 12 riders are 24 and below, with five 20 or younger.

“We focus specifically on rider development, as I felt there was a development chunk missing in cycling,” its manager, Bob Lyons, explained. “If teams are purely driven to win and satisfy sponsors, sometimes the development of riders can become secondary. We're very keen to get this balance, where you can look at the potential talent and how you develop it.

“We have to give our riders the right support infrastructure and then the right race programme. The focus is on the rider, not on the result. This can affect some things, with sponsors wanting to buy into winning, but we're not going to races to make up the numbers. I'm very vocal about having the right riders and the right race for their development.”

While Lyons is at pains to urge that running Alba is not simple, he says that women’s racing is in a good place right now: “It's a bit of an easier task to get sponsorship for women's teams at the moment. It's not easy, but it's perhaps easier. Budgets are generally smaller, and you can do quite a lot with that money.”

This piece is part of Cycling Weekly's special International Women's Day issue, which you can buy in store for £3.25, or online for £4.50, including delivery. It’s one we are very proud of. Within the pages, there's an interview with the world champion, Lotte Kopecky, and you'll also find an exploration of the physiological differences between men and women, and the story of one inspiring woman's journey from novice to ultra endurance rider.