Trans cyclist picks up overall victory in Tour of the Gila

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Austin Killips, a transgender female, finished in first place in the women’s category in the Tour of the Gila as she finished in first place in the final stage of the event in New Mexico.

Killips broke free from the pack in the final minutes of the race. Killips clocked in at 3:07:16 defeating Marcela Prieto and Cassandra Nelson in the stage.

"We really wanted to get into a break," Julie Kuliecza, the team director of Killips’ sponsor – Amy D Foundation – said afterward, via Cycling News. "We thought that there was going to be something that would go right after the second sprint point, and we wanted a rider in that break so that when Austin and the other GC riders came up to it, Austin would have someone to help them and protect them, and it worked out perfectly."

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Austin Killips on the podium after the women's elite race of the "Kasteelcross" cyclocross in January 2023. (DAVID PINTENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

With the focus on transgender women competing against biological females taking centerstage across the country, Killips took some heat on social media for the victory.

The Tour of Gila congratulated Killips on the win but limited the responses.

Killips was also the subject of controversy at the UCI Cyclocross National Championships in December 2022, when she was accused of pushing another competitor off course. Killips denied making the move in a statement to the Los Angeles Blade.

Killips’ emergence on the cyclocross circuit was the reason Hannah Arensman, a 35-time winner on the