Dame Sarah Storey keen to see 'tiered' structure in women's cycling

Dame Sarah Storey is keen to see the introduction of a “tiered” structure into women’s road cycling in order to get more British riders winning the world’s biggest races.

Storey, who has won 11 Paralympic gold medals in cycling and swimming combined, runs her own team on the British circuit, Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International, whose star riders include Joanna Rowsell and Katie Archibald.

They race almost exclusively in Britain and have enjoyed success, but they and other British teams rarely get the chance to test themselves on the international stage and, when they do, they struggle to make an impact.

Britain is represented at the top of the sport by 2012 Olympic road race silver-medallist Lizzie Armitstead, who rides for the Dutch team Boels-Dolmans, as well as up-and-coming riders such as Lucy Garner and Hannah Barnes.

But otherwise, the women have been unable to replicate their male counterparts’ success overseas and Storey believes it is because the void between domestic and world-level racing is too great.

She told Sky Sports: “At the moment we just have professional racing and everyone else, while the men have three or four different tiers and there is a process to move through those tiers for teams and riders.

“We now really need to see some step changes in the events that we ride in the UK. It’s quite obvious that what we call the ‘elite’ level in the UK is still a way behind elite level in Europe and other parts of the world.

“Our races are still a bit too short and when we get to ride alongside the men’s events, we are still getting shorter races or fewer good races.

“If we can adjust the system to make the hardest level in the UK that little bit harder, we will start to see more women filtering into the professional ranks, because it is still a huge step up.”

While British road racers fight to make their mark overseas, amateur women’s cycling back home is growing rapidly.

More than 250,000 more women are cycling regularly now than in 2013 and British Cycling is aiming to make that figure one million by 2020.

Storey, who is an ambassador for the campaign, believes that as well as promoting healthy lifestyles, it is also building the foundations for professional British women’s racing in the future.

She added: “We have done it the right way. We are building a really strong base, and obviously Sky Ride and those mass-participation events are absolutely superb, and now we need to see that legacy drifting up the pyramid and really challenging the girls right at the very top, because that is where our Olympic medals and Paralympic medals come from.”