Cycling race director agonizes over UCI's transgender participation policy: 'This could kill the sport'

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Michael Engleman, the race director of the Tour of the Gila which came under fire when a transgender cyclist won the women’s overall category, spoke out about the controversy Tuesday.

Engleman told The Telegraph he had been the target of ire of the outraged after Austin Killips, a transgender female, won the final stage race and the event itself marking the first time a transgender woman had ever won a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stage race. 

Engelman revealed he and his staff have been on the receiving end of threats and violence and is worried about how the controversy could affect the sport.

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From left to right, Belgian Marion Norbert Riberolle, Dutch Denise Betsema and American Austin Killips pictured on the podium after the women's elite race of the "Kasteelcross" cyclocross cycling event, race 7/8 in the 'Exact Cross' competition, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023 in Zonnebeke, Belgium. (DAVID PINTENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

"This could kill the sport," he told the outlet.

He added, "I know how hard it is to get people to put money into a women’s team, at any level. And now they’re asking, ‘Is this something I can touch?' What if an athlete says the wrong thing? This is harming the sport. It’s a reality that somebody has to speak about."

He said it will be up to the UCI to make a decisive decision about its transgender participation policy. He said he contacted USA Cycling to make a statement on Killips’ involvement but claimed his request denied "because it was so sketchy to talk about."

The UCI, the world governing body for sports cycling, initially defended its