- Magazine was forced to apologise for the ‘idiotic’ caption underneath a picture
- Cyclist Hannah Noel’s pictured was accompanied by ‘token attractive woman’
- A furor on social media saw readers blast the magazine and cancel subscriptions
A female cyclist said she was ‘absolutely gutted and disappointed’ after Cycling Weekly captioned a picture of her ‘token attractive woman’.
The magazine was forced to apologise today after the ‘idiotic’ wording appeared underneath a picture of Hannah Noel, a member of the Hinckley Cycling Race Club in Leicester.
Ms Noel wrote on Facebook: ‘So today I made it into Cycling Weekly, it seems not for my ability as a female cyclist but as a “Token attractive woman”.
‘I’m absolutely gutted and disappointed in the magazine.’
Cycling Weekly was forced to apologise after the caption ‘Token attractive woman’ appeared next to a pictured of cyclist Hannah Noel, a member of the Hinckley Cycling Race Club in Leicester
Ms Noel took to Facebook to express her disappointment in the magazine, which has since apologised for the caption
The farce sparked fury on social media, with many demanding an apology and some even claiming to have cancelled their subscriptions.
Carlos Fandango, a member of the Hinckley Cycling Race Club in Leicester, commented: ‘So my cycling club made it into @cyclingweekly and this happened. I hope @cyclingweekly apologise. Still a lot of equality work work to do.’
George Brisco wrote: ‘We have just cancelled out subscription. The caption was indefensible. The apology weak.’
The magazine’s editor Simon Richardson apologised for the ‘idiotic’ farce, which was blamed on a sub-editor.
He commented: ‘In this week’s issue of Cycling Weekly we published a regular Ride With feature with the Hinckley Cycling Race Club in Leicester.
The caption sparked fury online as dozens of readers slammed the magazine, with some even saying they would be cancelling their subscriptions
Ms Noel was left ‘absolutely gutted’ after reading the caption. Cycling Weekly’s editor, Simon Richardson, said the farce was ‘not a reflection of the culture in the CW office’
‘Unfortunately during the magazine’s production process a member of the sub-editing team decided to write an idiotic caption on a photo of one of the female members of the club.
‘The caption is neither funny nor representative of the way we feel or approach our work. Sadly in the rush to get the magazine finished it was missed by other members of the team and eventually sent to print.
‘We would like to apologise unreservedly to the rider in the photograph, the Hinckley CRC and all out readers. This appalling lack of judgement by an individual is just that, and not a reflection of the culture in the CW office.’