Key takeaways from our Women In Cycling webinar

We had a full house at our Women In Cycling “Towards more diversity in the cycling industry” webinar, which took place on 13 March. Women In Cycling is an initiative launched by Cycling Industries Europe, ECF, Velokonzept, Mobycon and CONEBI aiming to boost diversity in the cycling sector and helping women to get more visibility, impact and leading seats in the cycling industry.

Here are some key takeaways from the webinar:

• Women In Cycling is growing! New national WIC platforms are being founded: Ophélie Laffuge gave us an update on the French “Femmes à vélo” initiative and Isabell Eberlein told us about new German WIC platform. Additionally, Women in Cycling chapter is starting in der Schweiz with first small invitation-based “formation” meeting taking place on 14 June to collect ideas around agenda and group format. A new kickoff event is also planned during IMBA Europe summit in May to get more women into mountain biking and trail building and to suggest initiatives that can inspire and develop the participation of more women in the world of mountain biking.

• “We need more diversity, more women, to grow the cycling sector” The historically male-dominant cycling sector is undergoing a shift. However, despite the increased visibility of women and marginalised groups in leadership roles, the industry faces significant challenges in retaining talent. April Marshke of Specialized said: “I have seen so many women come into the industry, but I have also seen our sector lose a lot of really smart women due to the lack of support.” Diversity makes successful business, and is key to growth.

• Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van Den Brandt gave a powerful keynote stating how building new infrastructure is essential to get more people cycling but encouraging more women to cycle is equally important.

• Sally Middlemiss, author of the Diversity in Cycling project, gave us insights from the "Diversity in the cycling industry" study with a call to action outlining seven key actions to guide progress towards inclusive culture, representation and accountability in the cycling industry. This was followed by a lively panel discussion with women leaders who reflected on the report's key points and talked about ways to make the cycling world more diverse.

Our 2024 events calendar:

18 June: Velo-city 2024 (Ghent, Belgium) – Women In Cycling session and lunch.

5 July: Women in Cycling breakfast at EuroBike 2024 (Frankfurt, Germany). Register here.

1-2 October: CIE Members’ Day and Summit 2024 (Brussels)

22-24 May: IMBA Summit (Modling) Women In Cycling, mountain biking, and trail building ​

Join us

Join our Women In Cycling LinkedIn group, and Expertise portal!

Missed the webinar? No worries, you can watch the full webinar here.