A man who claims to be a woman crushed his competition in a North Carolina cycling event, beating the second-place finisher by a whopping five minutes.
Austin Killips, 27, won the 137-mile long Belgian Waffle Ride, leaving the two women behind him, Paige Onweller and Flavia Oliveira, far behind him.
“It was just a grueling effort,” Killips said after the race. “I am just really proud to lay it out there and get the result.”
“I asserted myself there and was able to get a gap early,” he boasted. “’We were kind of all riding together for quite a while and, you know, I have a cross background and I am going to attack these single track sections as hard as I can and did that. … One of the mid-race single-track sections I just kind of hammered and was able to stay clear.”
📽️ Male pro women’s cyclist Austin Killips talking about his win at the Belgian Waffle Ride gravel race in North Carolina yesterday. He credits his strategy and cx background.
🚴🏻♀️Ladies: You need to “lay it out there and get the result” like Killips! #SaveWomensSports pic.twitter.com/MzLqH4YtQ6
— 🚲 (@i_heart__bikes) June 11, 2023
In December 2022, Killips was harshly criticized online after it looked as though he pushed Hannah Arensman, 24, off the race course at the UCI Cyclocross National Championships.
Remember the video of Austin Killips throwing himself into Hannah Arensman in an attempt to knock her over?https://t.co/vOydqydsE8 pic.twitter.com/5cxh9BBFGR
— 🚲 (@i_heart__bikes) January 4, 2023
Arensman, who finished in fourth place, was angered by the incident.
“I fully expect that in cycling, as a full-body contact sport, you’re going to get hit at some point,” Arensman later said. “But when you have someone born a man run into you, over six feet tall, it’s quite different. I tried to keep racing, not to let it get into my head at all. That one instance caught on video felt unnecessary, though.”
In an amicus brief submitted in West Virginia’s Supreme Court appeal to preserve a law designed to protect women athletes from unfair competition, Arensman announced her retirement from the sport.
“I have decided to end my cycling career,” she wrote. “At my last race at the recent UCI Cyclocross National Championships in the elite women’s category in December 2022, I came in 4th place, flanked on either side by male riders awarded 3rd and 5th places. My sister and family sobbed as they watched a man finish in front of me, having witnessed several physical interactions with him throughout the race.”
Arensman called on the bodies that govern women’s sports to protect female competitors.
“I feel for young girls learning to compete and who are growing up in a day when they no longer have a fair chance at being the new record holders and champions in cycling because men want to compete in our division,” she wrote. “I have felt deeply angered, disappointed, overlooked, and humiliated that the rule makers of women’s sports do not feel it is necessary to protect women’s sports to ensure fair competition for women anymore.”
After the Belgian Waffle Ride, Onweller acknowledged there was a significant difference between her and Killips.
“Most of the day I was riding with the top three women together: me, Austin and Flavia. But I just couldn’t match Austin — you know, the power is not comparable.”
“A transgender athlete won the women’s overall, which has caused some controversy,” she wrote in a blog post. “For those following women’s road cycling, you are aware of the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) rule that this is currently allowed. Rather than sharing my personal opinions about the UCI rule, I think it’s most important to recognize that all athletes, no matter how they identify, should have a space to compete and race.”
Then she suggested a separate race be held for men and women.
“Underneath all helmets is a face and a person who deserves respect, dignity and a safe space to ride bikes,” she wrote. “In the future, I feel a separate category may be appropriate but event promoters are also learning what is best to preserve both female cycling while also creating an inclusive space for all to ride.”