Kristen Faulkner's disqualification sparks conversation on Women's health in sport - "If a woman doesn't fuel properly, she could lose her period"

Because she wore a continuous glucose monitoring sensor, Kristen Faulkner was disqualified from participating in Strade Bianche. Her experiences have led her to highlight the importance of addressing women's health concerns, urging UCI to take notice.

“If I can have a similar mission and purpose in my life as a pro athlete, that's even more meaningful to me. This has given me a purpose behind my riding that is much greater than a third place at Strade Bianche,” Faulkner told Rouleur.

She elaborated on the problems that made it essential for her to use the monitor. “In training, I followed conventional guidelines and ate a gel every 15 minutes on intensity days, and every 20 minutes on endurance days, but even that led to spikes and crashes, which perpetuated my problem. Within a few months of using Supersapiens to track my glucose levels, my period came back. For me, that was a really important health moment.”

She expressed her dissatisfaction with UCI for neglecting the health needs of women.“It's pretty demoralising as a woman to have this organisation of mostly men tell me what I can and cannot use. They haven't cited any sources about women's health, they have no idea what causes amenorrhea, the relationship between glucose and yet, without that information, they still have the authority to govern it.”

She argued that biological differences between men and women exist, and thus, rules should be updated to reflect this reality. “ If a man doesn't fuel properly, he bonks, but if a woman doesn't fuel properly, she could lose her period. That creates a whole host of hormonal deficiencies. Any governing body that forbids me from staying informed about my food uptake is preventing me from taking care of my body in a natural and healthy way,” concluded Faulkner