Sydney’s Amanda Spratt sees a viable future for women in cycling
For decades, women cyclists could only watch as male competitors took on the ultimate race, the Tour de France. Now, racing in the Tour de France Femmes next month, Sydney’s Amanda Spratt reveals her joy at seeing a viable future for women in the sport.
Lifestyle
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After decades of exclusion, it’s been a long road into the spotlight for women’s cycling.
For the last two years, female cyclists have had the chance to race the pinnacle of cycling and stand tall beside the men who have historically ridden the Tour de France – and Sydney’s own Amanda Spratt is right in the thick of the action, and has been for almost two decades.
She knows cycling is no longer just a men’s race – and the Tour de France Femmes next month is a sign of the times she’s lived through.
“There has been a huge evolution in women’s cycling,” Spratt says from her Swiss base.
“I think back to the first years I was in Europe – there was probably one or two teams and … very little riders. We didn’t see it as a real, viable future, or something where we were going to be earning money and I think it was that dream that we held on to – just being able to race our bikes and the passion and the love of the sport that really kept us involved. I know that kept me involved.”
It was her lifelong dream, and in the last six years the sport’s evolution has seen a minimum salary and maternity leave introduced.
“When that came out many people thought some teams won’t afford that … but actually, the opposite happened,” she says.
“We have more teams than ever that are able to pay that – I think we have 15 or 16 World Tour teams now with great working conditions, we’re really making a good living out of the sport now, so I think that’s been a big change in the sport. So it’s in a really exciting place.”
The Penrith-born 36 year old has lived in Europe for half her life, cycling. She now shares her time between homes in Switzerland and the Blue Mountains, travelling the world for the sport she loves. When she started, it was male riders she idolised because that’s what she saw. Today, it’s people like her that hopefuls see – and that’s something she’s proud of.
“In terms of being equal with a man – I don’t think it’s something we’re always dwelling on, it was more about improving our own conditions, and I’m really proud to be involved in something like the Cyclists Alliance, who really pushed for that, and things like maternity leave have come in,” the Lidl-Trek team pro rider explains.
“So I think overall, it’s been a really exciting place and still room to grow in terms of quality and getting the same pay as men – but honestly, it feels like a really big step forward – and it’s really exciting.
“I think for that next generation coming through they can really dream about becoming a professional cyclist and having it as a living and something like the Tour de France Femme has really showed that.
“I know, as a young girl, I was always sitting up with my dad and watching the Tour de France, but we were only ever watching the men’s races. I think I knew that women were racing, but it wasn’t in front of me, I wasn’t seeing it. You can be what you can see … so I think it’s a really exciting place that we’re in right now, that the young riders, boys and girls, can watch us race and hopefully be inspired by us.”
In the lead up to the men’s Tour de France, which finishes next Sunday, DocPlay recently released Second To None, a three-part docu-series on the Lidl-Trek women’s cycling team that follows Aussie Amanda Spratt and the team as they prepare for and race last year’s Tour de France Femmes. With incredible access and personal interviews, the series is full of drama, insight and excitement – not just for cycling fans, but anyone interested in the athlete mindset and inner workings of elite teams.
“The Tour de France is one of the biggest stages in world sport and it was a huge moment for the women’s peloton to finally have a version of the race that is now being given the respect it deserves,” Spratt continues.
“I think in my career, I’ve definitely had a bit of a transition period in the last one to two years – joining Lidl-Trek has just been this amazing moment in my career, and one that I’ve been really grateful for. I think I’ve stepped more into this role of being a mentor, road captain, someone that can really help the team and also use opportunities when they might come – but I’ve definitely gone more into a mentoring role with the younger riders, and really trying to push myself still, but maybe in a little bit of a different way – without the pressure of always getting the results.
“And I think that’s something I’ve grappled a little bit with – what does success look like for me now? When I think about my ultimate goal, I think, yes, I’d still really love to put my hands in the air and win a race – my absolute dream win would be a stage of the Tour de France, for sure.”
While she’s had many highs along the way – winning the Australian National Road Race Championships in Buninyong, Victoria, in 2020 and wearing the green and gold at the last three Olympic Games, she’s had her fair share of lows too. So low that she almost quit 16 years ago.
“I’ve had a few pretty big challenges in my cycling career – I had quite a bad injury in 2008, 2009 with a piriformis syndrome, which had been a chronic pain issue that required surgery,” she recalls.
“I was almost two years out of the sport just trying to rehab and recover and figure out the problem. That was a really hard time because there were some people around me saying maybe I should just stop, maybe I should quit the sport – but deep down I knew that I still had more to give … but mentally I was in a really, really bad place and physically too – and when moments are hard now, I always think back on that time, on what I’ve come back from.” More recently she had iliac artery narrowing, which also required surgery and a lengthy rehab, and it took her a year to get back to form.
“Injury is part of the sport, and they’ve definitely shaped my career and defined the rider and person I am today, and I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to come back from that, and I think I’m a crazy, determined and resilient person,” she says.
“Both of those injuries showed that.”
The three-time Olympian – she’s competed at London, Rio and Tokyo – doesn’t have her sights on this year’s Paris Games, instead looking towards the World Championships in Zurich.
“It’s always such a proud moment to be named in any Australian team,” she says.
“I’ve been to the last three Olympics, and even just that moment where the team is announced and your name’s on the list – it’s such an immense feeling of pride to know that you can represent your country in a sport that’s your life, and put on that green and gold.
“It doesn’t get better than that.
“I’m really aiming towards the World Championships in Zurich, which is another chance to wear the green and gold and I’m already excited thinking about it.
“Most of the season, we’re just racing with our professional team, so we don’t often actually come together as a national team, which I think makes it even more special that all of a sudden it’s all the Australian slang and accents at the dinner table – it’s just a really nice feeling of being home – especially when we’re in Europe for the whole year.”
Spratt was first introduced to the cycling world at nine years old when her dad took her and her brother Nick, to a local BMX track to “have a go”.
After that she spent the next five years BMX riding and became a NSW champion, fifth at the Australian Championships and even went to the Junior World Championships when she was 11 years old, coming fifth. Both her father and grandfather were riders, with Spratt’s dad taking his kids to the local road cycling club at Penrith, where she got her start on the road discipline at the age of 12. Offered scholarships with the NSW and Australian institutes of sport, she always loved the challenge of competing.
“It’s good for people to see the hard moments, as often in cycling we see those moments where people cross the line, where they’re victorious, where everything goes right,” she explains. “What people don’t see is what goes on behind the scenes, the hard moments, the injuries, illness.
“I hope that people watching (the series) get a real insight into what it takes and how it’s just a really big team effort to get through. I hope audiences are inspired by what we do and the way we bounce back from hard moments … not just in sport, but in life.” ■
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