Australia's biggest cycling event guarantees equal pay for men and women

CANBERRA, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Men and women who competed in Australia's premier cycling race have been awarded equal prize money for the first time in the event's history.

The South Australian government announced on Sunday that it would contribute 90,000 Australian dollars (72,000 U.S. dollars) to the Tour Down Under (TDU) prize pool to guarantee equality.

The men's TDU was set to conclude on Sunday after five gruelling days of riding in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

The women's event was held before the men's with Australian Amanda Spratt winning the event as well as being named Queen of the Mountain as the best climber.

Initially the women's prize pool for the event was just 12,000 U.S. dollars but South Australian Sports Minister Leon Bignell said that female competitors could now look forward to cheques that would bring their pay in line with their male counterparts.

"This is the first major bike race in the world where there'll be equality amongst men and women, where the pay cheques will be exactly the same," Bignell told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday.

"So terrific news for women's cycling -- when they go out there they train just as hard as the men.

"When they break bones it hurts just as much as the men."

David Lappartient, president of the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI), said that the initiative would lead the way as the sport sought global equality.

"I am a strong advocate for women's empowerment in sports in general and cycling more specifically," he said.

"The UCI has indeed introduced equal prize money for men and women across all UCI world championships and world cups.

"It is fantastic (for) South Australia (to) take the lead, elevating women in sport through offering equal prize money for male and female competitors in the Tour Down Under (and) I am confident equal prize money will support a significant transformation for women in cycling." Enditem