Biological male wins women’s division of US cycling race

Austin Killips, who identifies as a transgender woman, won Saturday’s UCI Elite Women’s division of the cycling event.

Killips came in first with a time of 50 minutes, 25 seconds. The second-place finisher, and first among biological women, was Ava Holmgren, with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Placing third was Lizzy Gunwales, with a time of 50 minutes, 31 seconds.

Cyclocross is a non-Olympic style of race that involves mixed, closed-circuit races consisting of off-road and on-road elements, as well as running over obstacles and technical sections.

UCI, or Union Cycliste Internationale, released new guidance in regards to transgender athletes earlier this year, changing the time frame for biological male athletes to display low levels of testosterone, and including a lower maximum permitted plasma testosterone level.

UCI guidelines has now increased "the transition period on low testosterone from 12 to 24 months."

The sports governing body has also lowered the maximum permitted plasma testosterone level from 5 nmol/L to 2.5 mol/L.

"This value corresponds to the maximum testosterone level found in 99.99 percent of the female population," UCI noted in June.

An article published in Cycling Tips in October chalked Killips’ wins in the sport to Killips’ "analytical approach," rather than Killips’ biological male upbringing.

Cycling Tips reported: "She treats the sport as a study, watching the footage back of her races every weekend to see where she can improve. But there is also a lot of time involved in preparation for the events that are still so new to Killips."

"I approach the sport scientifically. I am a student of the sport," Killips said. "You need to have an affinity and passion for it to be spending so much time watching races and analyzing. Observation is a huge part of getting better. There are many resources like the course previews and years of coverage of racing."

According to Cross Results, over the course of Killips' 3-year span of racing, Killips has come in first in 17 of 57 races. Including first place finishes, Killips has come in the top 50 percent of finishers in 47 races.