The organisers of the Eneco Tour have equalised the prize money for the ongoing concurrent men's and women's events after four days of racing in the Netherlands, following public criticism from Dutch sprinter Charlotte Kool.
Making a major change to the original total prize money of €17,205 for the women's race, and €63,465 for the men's race, TIG Sports & Events have now moved to close the €46,215 pay gap to zero.
Kool took to her Instagram to call out the race earlier in the race, saying, "I'm curious if women get a discount at @eneco for energy? Prologue: Same start time, same distance, same energy," after Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek) earned €1,490 for his victory on the opening day, while equivalent women's winner Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) won just €220.
"Eneco and Eneco Tour organizer TIG Sports & Events are equalizing the prize money for men and women starting with this edition. The total prize money for women will be increased to the same amount as for the men," read a press release on the race's website.
"At the formation of the partnership, Eneco and the organisation agreed to operate based on innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity. The combination of a women's and men's race within a single event is an important part of this, as is the equal positioning of the men's and women's races. Both parties would therefore equalise the prize money in the coming years."
The race noted how the originally planned prize money figures were determined by "the organisation following the applicable scales of the UCI for the category in which both races fall, and how "These scales have different amounts for men and women." But after Kool's comments, they decided to take action.
"Charlotte Kool's social media post illustrated that the discussion about prize equality in cycling was even more urgent than we already thought," read the statement.
"This has prompted us to accelerate this step. Eneco and the organisation have now jointly decided to raise the prize money for women to the level of the men."
"This is top class. I am super happy that it is being picked up like this and implemented immediately," said Kool. "It shows that the Eneco Tour really considers the women just as important as the men."
The race had been presented as an event pushing for greater equality for men and women in cycling, with two identical races against the clock and very similar distances for the four road stages. They even tried to intermingle the men's and women's riders in the opening prologue, until the UCI rejected that plan due to security and insurance reasons.
"We organize the women’s and men’s races together and want to give both the same attention. The same performance deserves the same platform," said Race Director Roxane Knetemann.
"That is why we already ensure that all teams receive a good expense allowance to start here, which is not common at all races. But that also includes prize money right from the start. It is good that we can realize this together with Eneco for this edition."
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