Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and British Cycling ruled that gender dysphoric Emily (born Zach) Bridges did not meet the criteria to compete in National Omnium Championships for women. Bridges, who had been coordinating with the UCI to make sure that he was in compliance, was denied at the last minute.

This was due to a mass protest among the female competitors, who threatened to boycott the competition if Bridges were allowed to compete.

It’s important to note that Bridges has (and still is) competing in men’s cycling competitions. He actually set a national junior men’s record in 2018. If he was breaking records as a man, he would probably forever devastate women’s records with this participation in their races.

Bridges, of course, is not happy with the decision. In a statement on social media, he wrote, “I am in contact with British Cycling and UCI requesting clarity around my alleged ineligibility, and I hope that they will reconsider their decision in line with the regulations.”

His ineligibility is that he is a man — in spite of his belief that he is a women. His feeling slighted by this restriction is therefore unreasonable. He is not a women and his insisting on being one and participating in women’s sports shows a blatant disregard for women athletes and their rights.

This successful bravery on the women cyclists’ part is exactly how this encroachment on women’s sports can be handled, but maybe not across the board.

At the collegiate level, where the question of gender dysphoric men competing in women’s swimming has been a hotly debated topic, the situation in entirely different. This is illustrated perfectly in the Lia Thomas situation.

Those young women are in a college bubble where their social lives and future prospects are tied to their cooperation in Thomas’s participation. Those athletes who aren’t dissenting are his brainwashed supporters. Change in this arena will depend on brave college athletes but also on parents being brave enough to pull their kids and their money out of these schools and programs perverting women’s sports.

This battle is only going to get harder after President Joe Biden’s Department of Education finishes tweaking Title IX rules. The changes are “going to affect people’s ability on campus to talk about or debate about single-sex spaces on campus like women’s sports,” according to the former DOE deputy general, Candice Jackson. “All of a sudden, you’re in a position where even having a discussion or even trying to advocate for keeping women’s sports single-sex could get you called a harasser.”

Is this the message we want our girls to internalize? Shut up or we’ll ruin your life and your reputation?

If the answer is no, then women athletes — like these women cyclists — need to keep standing up for themselves and the rights of women to have their own sports.