'Podium Girls' in pro cycling...

ok cool, Aviva it is then...

Also, am interested in the comments on the article @cliveo posted above - as they give you Tour de France at least the role of 'podium girl' has other aspects that are important to the running of the race.

So it's not simply ban podium girls and replace them with junior riders... I guess we're petitioning to split this role... there would need to be a host or hostess (who can have any appearance whatever) and would have the job of looking after and organising the young riders who will give the prizes along with all the other jobs the 'podium girl' did... Trouble is here I'm assuming the role is the same in the Tour of Britain as it is in the Tour de France... so there may be some tweaking.. Seen as in this article about the Tour of Britain: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/16/podium-girl-tour-of-britain
the women are being offered £50 for a days work I'm guessing the Tour of Britain role might be pure podium..

Just to say I'm not endorsing this in anyway, or the use of podium girls.

Oh, sorry, read the thread too quickly!
I think giving the ToB the opportunity to be trailblazers etc in this regard would be brillo.

so singling out cycling as a sport needing to sort its sexism out would actually put it at odds with wider social norms.

Why not cycling be the first to sort it out?

Very good point, and one I'll certainly concede.

Because tennis is already quite a bit further ahead. Save a few scheduling and senior representation issues it's pretty much a model sport.

Tennis does, however, attract minor royals to hand over prizes. Not something to introduce to cycling.

Because tennis is already quite a bit further ahead.

All the more reason to change this mindset in cycling.

tennis

The Madrid Masters had a brief dalliance with using models as ball girls but it's all but stopped since 2010.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3759426.stm

So heard back from ToB PR people -

Their prizes are handed out by a sponsor and a 'Presentation Manager' who is a woman who presents everyday. They said she will be wearing a 'formal white shirt and trousers or skirt'. It's probably not unlikely that she will be young and attractive.

But not quite models in underwear..

Why does it have to be a woman? Isn't that a form of employment discrimination if there is no explicit reason for this?

There are normally two podium girls, one on either side of the winner- why not bring in equality of the sexes here? Have one of each - the attractive young lady in a frock, and a strapping young chap in his speedos. They can both give the rider a kiss, and he or she can look even more uncomfortable than normal - or ragingly priapic*, possibly.

*Unsure what the female equivalent of this would be, and I'm not Googling for it on the work laptop.

It's the paid-for kiss that has me retch every time.
It's surprising that none of the winners seem to object to that bit. Especially in instances when they have their wife and kids watching.

I was going to suggest this as well. A good step forward for equality whether they keep the kissy-kissy or not.

The chap should kiss Froome* and the girl shake his hand.

*Or whoever, swap sexes for Vos etc.

That suggests that they are in a fairly defensible position. That sounds like a dedicated role with responsibilities that extend beyond smiling, looking pretty and feigning affection while handing things to stage/jersey winners. Until we get to see how the role pans out, it kind of makes any campaign against ToB a non-starter.

No, not really. You would have to prove that the decision to offer her the role was based at least in part on her gender. It sounds as if they haven't said it has to be a woman, but that in this instance a woman was the successful candidate for the position.

am i doing it right? why does chris not have a podium girl?

I like @WillMelling idea of local kids.

Thinking to the award ceremony's I photograph, the awards are either given to the winner by the host, or the presenter of the award, both being a person of note in their field. Seems to work fine there.

Those podium girls look ridiculously young. Presumably to get round minimum wage legislation?

Agreed - the response from their PR person was suitably fluffy/ believable that Aviva or the press would be probably pacified by it.

I think wait to see what happens...

For the ToB, yep. But it doesn't mean anyone needs to sit on their hands waiting for progress. There are at least two other areas where I think the UK could make some advances;

1) Ask British Cycling to adopt a clear policy that they will specify against the practice of podium girls in any events that they organise and/or commission with a simple financial penalty for any organisers that do.

2) Ask British teams to request to organisers of any event that their riders participate in ensure that any podium presentations involving their riders are performed by the race organiser, key people in a sponsoring organisation or other person who is a recognised representative of cycling.

I mentioned this in the TdF thread: from the stages I have been to and what I have seen on TV the ToB uses one woman only who manages and organises the award ceremony, more like a presenter than a podium girl. And while she dresses up, there's not the level of flesh on display that you see on the continent.

I'm probably repeating what's been said on here all ready but cycling is basically the only sport I watch or care about. As a cyclist I find it incredibly frustrating that the top events that represent the sport are so behind the times.

It's actually embarrassing, it's on the level of cringe worthy, I'm glad that it's in the press now but it feels like it's about 20 years late.

I do think it's worth using a particular race to make this point.

What else is coming up that could get this attention. How about the world champs in the US?