South Australian WorldTour cycling gun Tiffany Cromwell says a minimum salary will keep women in the sport for much longer
Australian national women’s road cycling captain Tiffany Cromwell has targeted the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games her major goal. She’s also weighed in on the introduction of a minimum salary for women WorldTour riders.
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South Australia’s Tiffany Cromwell has seen women’s road cycling evolve from paying “peanuts” for world class talent to finally being fiscally rewarded for a sport regarded as one of the most unforgiving.
Germany’s Canyon SRAM Racing’s Cromwell, 31, is a member of just one of eight WorldTeams including Australia’s Mitchelton-Scott that have been granted licences for the first time in history in 2020.
Five of the eight WorldTour teams will race at the women’s Santos Tour Down Under where Cromwell – in her 10th year at world class level – will lead her team on Stage 1 from Hahndorf on January 16.
“Women’s cycling is definitely in a big change,’’ Monaco-based Cromwell said after arriving in her home town Adelaide for pre-season just before Christmas.
“With cycling it’s been a very, very slow progression.
“I came through a bit with the old generation, they were getting paid peanuts.
“Now the sport has been evolving, it’s been a push for the WorldTour.
“For us it means more security, more longevity in the sport.”
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The UCI women’s WorldTeams must pay their riders a minimum annual salary of $24,000 this year, which will increase to $49,500 in 2023 - equal to men’s professional continental riders.
The minimum salary for men’s UCI WorldTour riders is $61,200.
Women will race a maximum of 75 days a year, not including individual races and national team appearances, and granted 30 days holidays.
“We’re seeing women go a lot longer now as before that was one of the reasons why women stopped the sport earlier, they had to get a real job,’’ Cromwell said.
“It’s an exciting time, we’re fortunate to have a lot of sponsors behind it, they want it to happen.”
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Cromwell led her team to winning the time trial at the Giro D’Italia Internazionale Femminile in July.
The classics specialist also captained the Australian team at the women’s world championship road race in Yorkshire in September.
National teammate Amanda Spratt, a rival with Mitchelton-Scott claiming a hat-trick of women’s Tour Down Under overall victories, finished third in Yorkshire.
Cromwell says her major 2020 goal is winning a road team jersey at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July.
“2020 is a huge year, Olympics is the one thing that I’m yet to achieve in my career as a major event,’’ she said.
“I have been to the Commonwealth Games and to many, many world championships and finding my feet as being the road captain of the Australian team for the last few major championship events.
“It’s a huge honour, but also there is a lot of pressure with that role.
“There is a lot of focus for me on Tokyo (Games) and I’m fortunate that between my team Canyon-Sram and the national team there’s a lot of opportunities to make it happen.
“The problem is with the Olympics there’s so few spots and we have Amanda Spratt, she’s getting stronger and stronger all the time.
“She is a good chance for the medal so the team probably will be built around her.”
Cromwell is heading to Ballarat to compete at road nationals, before returning to race at the Tour Down Under.
She ends her early season Australian commitments at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on February 1 before heading back to Monaco.
Originally published as South Australian WorldTour cycling gun Tiffany Cromwell says a minimum salary will keep women in the sport for much longer