The mother of transgender cyclist, Emily Bridges, has accused British Cycling of dumping her daughter by email, as the organisation suspended its transgender participation policy.

It comes after Bridges, 21, was barred from competing in her first women’s event in Derby last week after the sport’s world governing body ruled she was not eligible to race.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) ruled that Bridges could not compete because she was still registered as a male cyclist.

The national governing body – British Cycling – had updated its transgender and non-binary participation policy in January which enabled Bridges to enter a women’s category after demonstrating her testosterone levels had been reduced to the required limits.

But her mother, Sandy Sullivan, tweeted a statement on Friday from British Cycling and claimed that her daughter had been “dumped by email”.

She added that a statement would be made in the coming 24 hours.

Last week, Bridges was due to compete in a women’s event for the first time at the British National Omnium Championship coming up against five-time Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny.

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Bridges, who came out as a transgender woman in October 2020, began hormone therapy last year to reduce her testosterone levels.

LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, said they were disappointed Bridges wasn’t given a “fair chance” to compete in Derby last week, despite being in full compliance of British Cycling’s competition criteria, with her testosterone levels below five nanomoles per litre for the past 12 months.

The Welsh rider detailed how she had been “harassed and demonised” in the days after UCI had prevented her from racing at the Derby event.

Transgender participation policy suspended

On Wednesday, British Cycling voted to suspend its current transgender participation policy, and said it will perform a “full review” in the coming weeks.

In a statement, the organisation said: “The review will allow us time for further discussion with all stakeholders, including women and the transgender and non-binary communities.”

It added that it remains “committed” to ensuring that transgender and non-binary people are “welcomed, supported and celebrated in the cycling community and the inclusion of these groups within non-competitive activities remains unaffected by the suspension”.

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Amid the row over Bridge’s participation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he thought “biological males should not be competing in female sporting events”.

He added that this did not mean he was not “immensely sympathetic to people that want to change gender”.

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