Mick Hartley

From the Mail – Hulking transgender athletes take gold, silver and bronze spots on female podium at Washington cycling championship. That "hulking" gets the point across: these are men, stealing women's prizes. 

Transgender athletes swept the board in a 1-2-3 at a prestigious women's cycle race over the weekend, infuriating fans and leaving female competitors in the shade.

Every medalist in the elite women's Madison at Washington's Marymore Grand Prix on Friday had a trans athlete on the two–person team, marking the first time trans women are known to have had a place on every podium spot in a race.

Race venue the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome in Redmond warns it will not tolerate 'bullying or derogatory comments especially related to race, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability'.

But the sight of the heavily-built winners towering over their rivals and teammates on the podium has dismayed fans of the sport.

'This is so egregious I can't imagine how people watched this happen and thought this was ok,' wrote one.

Give men an opening like this and some will take it. That, sadly, is the way it is. Everyone can see it's crazy – but still it continues.