Hosking winning a stage in the 2010 Nature Valley Grand Prix
The young Australian rider who branded UCI president Pat McQuaid “a dick” in a recent interview has been disciplined by Cycling Australia.
However, the fine of $200 imposed on Chloe Hosking is the lowest that could have been handed down. It has also been suspended for one year, meaning if she is not in any more trouble in the next twelve months she will not have to pay the money.
Cycling Australia has condemned Hosking’s language, but the minor penalty handed down and comments by the federation’s president Klaus Mueller suggest there is agreement with the larger point she was trying to make.
Hosking is a 21-year-old sprinter who has moved from the now defunct HTC-Highroad team to Specialized-Lululemon. She is a former U23 Australian criterium champion.
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She made her contentious remarks after winning the Jayco Bay Classic in Geelong earlier this month.
An interviewer put it to her that McQuaid had said at the World Championships in Copenhagen last September that women’s cycling had not progressed enough to justify the introduction of a minimum wage like that enjoyed by many men’s teams.
Hosking responded: "What can you say, Pat McQuaid is a d*ck.”
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“To say at the biggest sporting event for women's cycling that we haven't progressed enough to have a minimum salary - how do we progress if we all have to still work and we can't support ourselves?”
While McQuaid has made no comment on the controversy, Cycling Australia made it clear it was unhappy with the remarks and said it would be taking the matter further.
However, having spoken to Hosking the federation has handed down a very small fine and has also suspended it.
And now comments by Cycling Australia’s president Klaus Mueller could be interpreted as support for the point Hosking was trying to make.
He said the decision to impose a small suspended financial penalty was taken against the background of the very small financial rewards on offer to women in cycling compared to their male counterparts.
“We took into account the fact that the women, and in particular Chloe, earn bugger all from the sport,” he told ‘The Age’ newspaper in Australia.
“And if in fact we imposed an immediate $200 fine that would be a very severe penalty. For the blokes a $200 fine would be a slap on the wrist. And if the guys earning the big bucks did something similar they could expect a much more savage outcome. But Chloe would be on €10,000 or something a year. She has to pay for all her own accommodation, all her own living expenses.”
However, he said Hosking was genuinely apologetic for her choice of words.
“We said to her 'we respect your right to savagely criticise the attitude of the UCI and things that Pat McQuaid has done and said, but you can't attack the messenger. You can attack the message, and we respect her right to do that’; but calling someone a dick or a dickhead just doesn’t elevate the discussion at all and she knew that.”
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