Singapore’s Chelsei Tan and Malaysia’s Nur Alia blazing a trail for region’s women in professional cycling ranks
- Tan has joined Team BikeExchange-Jayco, which is based in the Girona region of northern Spain
- Siti Nur Alia Monsor has been selected to join new development squad WorldTour Canyon-SRAM
Girona in the Catalan region of northern Spain is one of the prettiest and most beguiling cities in the country. The city is well known for its historic architecture, rich and independent culture and world-class cuisine.
In recent years Girona has had a far more international feel to it, largely thanks to it becoming home to many of the world’s top professional cyclists and their teams who compete on the UCI WorldTour.
And for the first time, two female cyclists from Southeast Asia have joined the roster of aspiring stars. Such is the rarity of that event, over the past decade you can count the number of riders from the region who have competed at the top level on one hand.
Currently, only Eri Yonamine of Japan, a member of the Human Powered Health team, is on the circuit. Now she is being joined by Singapore’s Chelsie Tan Wei Shi, and Malaysia’s Siti Nur Aliaa Monsor.
Going global
Adding riders from the region to the pro peloton could be a huge step forward in the quest for the globalisation of a deeply Eurocentric and traditional sport, especially one highly resistant to change.
As she quietly celebrated her 32nd birthday in January, four-time Singaporean champion Tan prepared for one of her first training rides with Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
One of 14 teams that make up the WorldTour roster, it is the women’s section of the Australian-registered outfit that also competes on the men’s tour.
Members of the squad take part in all the major single and multi-day stage races on the Tour, and despite being a relative novice at international level, Tan is eager to get started.
