The last few years have seen women’s cycling make significant progress; from improved media coverage to an increased number of races on the calendar, there is little question that the women’s sport is growing. Riders such as Marianne Vos and Lizzie Armitstead are becoming household names and the sport is, slowly but surely, receiving greater recognition. The gap between men’s and women’s road racing is still huge, but it is closing. Recent seasons have seen positive steps forward but of all the significant advances on the women’s side of the sport, the most meaningful may come this weekend.

Tomorrow will see the launch of the inaugural UCI Women’s WorldTour with the first race, the Strade Bianchi. It had been touted as a key step in the development of women’s cycling and in fact, it could well prove to be the pivotal moment for the sport. It will be the top tier of women’s cycling and will replace the Women’s Road World Cup. A key aim of the Women’s WorldTour is to increase the number of days of racing available to female riders and on this point, it is already a success. The 2016 WorldTour season will have 35 days of racing throughout its first year over 18 separate events; compare this to the World Cup which last year had only 10 one-day races.

This increase in the number of races is hugely positive and so too is the inclusion of multiple stage races for women. 2016 will see the Tour of California, the Women’s Tour (in Britain), the Giro Rosa, the Tour of Poland and the Tour of Chongming Island all included. This development is vital as it will bring an increased variety to the tour, as well as showcasing a wider range of riders. Until now, one-day specialists have dominated.

It will be interesting to observe how the Women’s WorldTour is received. On the face of it, there is a considerable will to develop women’s cycling; current UCI President, Brian Cookson, made it his “priority to create new opportunities for women’s cycling in all disciplines” when he ran for the position and when he took over the post in 2013, he made women’s cycling one of his administration’s top priorities. This is an admirable pledge and on many fronts, he has made progress- there can be little dispute that women’s cycling is in better shape than it was four or five years ago.

Yet it would be dangerous to become complacent as women’s cycling still has a long way to go if it is to ever achieve anything close to parity, particularly on the road. At present, the most prominent female presence in cycling are the podium girls who adorn the winner’s stage at men’s races. That such an anachronistic relic is still present is somewhat incredible and only serves to reinforce the belief held by some that women within cycling are merely suitable for window dressing.

Women’s cycling must value itself if the sport is to command unadulterated respect. The vast majority of women’s cycling teams and women’s cyclists are run and conduct themselves with complete professionalism but there remains particular examples which only result in demeaning the entire sport. Just over a year ago, the Colombian women’s team went viral due to their controversial outfits which had a nude coloured panel across their middle- in other words, they looked exposed. Can you imagine a men’s team getting involved in such a gimmick? Thought not. And just last month, the promoters of the women’s Emakumeen Euskal Bira race, to be held in Spain in April, released a poster advertising their race which pictured last years winner, Kasia Niawiadoma, perched atop her bike blowing a kiss to the camera. The poster was quickly withdrawn but not before the inference was made that spectators should come out to see the pretty girls rather than to watch top-class bike racing.

And perhaps most damagingly for women’s cycling, there remains no minimum wage for riders. Currently professional male riders must earn a minimum of €36,300 while women enjoy no such safety net. It is perfectly justifiable for men to earn more at this juncture- they currently generate far greater revenues - but to expect women to ride for nothing, as many do, is a further implication that they are not worth very much. UCI President Brian Cookson has stated his aim to introduce a minimum wage for female riders but as yet, there has been little progress. There is a fear that it could drive teams out of business but it may reach a stage that this risk must be taken.

Women’s cycling has a huge opportunity in the coming years- it is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and it has countless selling points which make it attractive to fans and sponsors alike. If the sport values itself as highly as it should then the sky is the limit and an important step on that journey takes place tomorrow at Strade Bianche.