The Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body of cyclocross, made waves in the cyclocross world when it announced a sudden change in its transgender athlete policy, and those changes will have a direct impact on cycling in the Pioneer Valley.

Cyclocross is a type of cycling that USA Cycling describes as “a cross between road cycling, mountain biking and steeplechase.” Cyclists compete on a short course that usually features different kinds of terrain and obstacles, meaning cyclists frequently have to dismount and carry their bikes before jumping back on and continuing the race.

As of July 17, trans women who have undergone male puberty will no longer be allowed to compete in any UCI sanctioned races. This is a departure from their most recent transgender policy that was implemented in June 2022, which allowed trans women to compete if their testosterone levels had been below 2.5 nanomoles per liter for at least 24 months.

All races that are UCI sanctioned will now have to abide by these policies, forcing race organizers to decide whether or not they want UCI rules to govern their races. UCI is an international governing body, which means athletes can earn international ranking points if they compete in UCI sanctioned events.

Choosing to be sanctioned by another governing body might impact which athletes decide to come and compete, and also changes things like insurance and officials.

This sudden change in policy is something that will impact the Northampton Cyclocross race, or NohoCX, a yearly event that has been happening since 1991. It’s typically been an important race in the UCI circuit – it was the oldest UCI Cyclocross race in the United States. But despite its history with UCI, race organizer Adam Myerson did not want the race to remain sanctioned with a governing body that did a quick about-face on its transgender policy shortly after trans cyclist Austin Killips won the Tour of the Gila on April 30.

Besides the fact that Killips also won the 2022 Northampton Cyclocross last November and is coached by Myerson, Myerson did not want to host a race that would bar any athlete from participating.

“(It’s) challenging, but also it was not a difficult decision. I just can’t imagine organizing an event with a governing body that says my winner from last season is no longer eligible to participate as a result of nothing – no change, nothing happened,” Myerson said. “It seems like there are a lot of people who could live with inclusion as long as trans women were not good, or didn’t win ... Austin’s good performances, they get turned into something that they’re not. She hasn’t had a single performance that’s been outside of the realm of normal, typical, historic, average women’s performances over time ... so I’m sad for it, but it was an easy decision to make.”

Myerson is in a bit of a holding pattern for now. He hopes the race can be sanctioned with USA Cycling, but if they make policy changes that line up with UCI’s trans policy, he’ll look elsewhere. The race will run, though it might look different – for example, this year it will be called Verge Northampton Cyclocross instead of Northampton International, its previous name – and Myerson hopes that they will get support from the cycling community as well as the local community.

“This is our 32nd year of running the race. Things almost run themselves at this point…. there’ll be some changes to our schedule, and some changes to our permitting process. It would be nice to stay with USA Cycling because I would like to keep things consistent and work with the folks that we always work with and are familiar with,” Myerson said. “Rather than be upset about (not being with UCI), I am trying to be excited about the opportunity to do new things with my race and see what that looks like. What are we if we are not a UCI race? Are we going to be this festival of inclusion and all are welcome mindset where everybody just shows up and is really happy to be there? That’s what I’m anticipating….and where better to do that than a place like Northampton?”

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>