Sarah Storey has always tried her best to give back to the sport she’s been involved in.Indeed, over the years, the 44-year-old cycling legend has mentored and successfully inspired the next generation of female riders. Equally, despite being Britain’s most successful Paralympian, with 28 medals to her name, Storey remains hungry for more individual glory and continues to set ambitious targets. The Brit is currently in the middle of a race season and is focused on preparing for the upcoming UCI Road World Championships. Longer term, her sights are firmly set on a ninth Paralympic Games at Paris 2024, where she has three titles to defend. Speaking to GiveMeSport Women, Storey revealed all about her work with the Å KODA DSI Cycling Academy — a groundbreaking new initiative that aims to help ambitious young female cyclists develop a clear direction and maximise their potential. Storey also spoke of her excitement for the upcoming Tour De France Femmes, for which Å KODA are ambassadors, and how she’d one day love the opportunity to compete in the race herself. ŠKODA approached Storey back in 2018 to be at the centre of their plans to grow women’s cycling –– an opportunity she lept at, as she sought to address the glaring inequalities that existed within the sport. “I think the exciting thing is to be involved with a brand that wants to start a conversation about why there was this gap in the women's side of the sport and what needs to be done to achieve equality,” she stated. 

Previously, Storey has exemplified the harsh realities for aspiring female cyclists and stressed that some could barely afford to pay for their own hotel rooms. 

The obstacles for young women getting into the sport can be separated into various different categories but lack of funding, lack of prize money and lack of opportunities are just some of the issues that Å KODA and Storey are seeking to address. 

“In youth racing, you don't have the girls racing the same distances as the boys. Then, when we move into the junior ranks, we're starting to see more events but we just don't see the same opportunities. 

“We’re still seeing that huge difference in race distances at ages where there shouldn’t be huge differences in capability.” 

That being said, Storey did emphasise that change is already starting to happen. There is now a Junior Women’s Road Series that under 23s are able to take part in –– showing that the conversation is already beginning to work. 

Ultimately though, there is still a long way to go and the path to change starts at the professional level. Things like TV coverage and prize money “filter down” according to Storey and there are many strands to the discussion. 

“If you can’t watch the women racing in the professional ranks because of lack of TV overage and you read stories about the opportunities to make a living being slim because prize money is lower, then that influences your ability to work out where you fit in the picture. 

“In terms of funding at the elite level –– if it’s not there, then it’s less likely to be there at the amateur level and development level,” she explained. 

“We know that from running a team [Storey Racing RT] within the UK, that it’s much that harder to find sponsorship at UK level than it ever has been.

“But I think what we're doing in Britain is we're helping to instigate a conversation and make sure that people are very aware of what needs to be done next and where the gaps are.” 

Many of the recent strides made in women’s cycling have been long overdue and the same can be said of the Tour de France Femmes –– a women’s version of the sport’s flagship race, that starts on July, 24th. 

The majority of the professional women’s peloton has long dreamed of the race coming to fruition and Storey says the decision to launch the stage race at long last will help cycling keep up with other big sports that are making progress. 

I always knew it needed to happen and I think everybody recognises the importance of it needing to happen.

“Not least because otherwise cycling gets left behind compared to other big sports and that affects the investment across the piece, not just in the Tour de France… so it’s really great to have it finally starting.” 

The inaugural year of the race will span a week and features eight stages –– some 13 less than the 2022 men’s edition. Prize money also stands at just €250,000 (£213,000), around a 10th of the €2.2m (£1.7m) on offer for the men. 

While Storey is obviously keen for these facts to change, she made clear that the women’s race is still in its infancy and that this is merely the start of something that will no doubt continue to grow. 

“I think it was very clear when they announced the race that this is the first race and that this is the start, not the end product. There are many routes forward to achieving the equality that's needed and certainly conversations to be had about what’s next for the race.” 

It may be unclear exactly what the future holds for the Tour de France Femmes at this stage, but Storey is very clear in her own personal aspirations moving forwards. 

“I’ve always worked on aiming for the next [Paralympic] Games,” she disclosed. “So the next Games is in Paris and I have three titles to try and defend.” 

Addressing her relentless appetite for more silverware, Storey stressed her pride at being able to move with the times and continue to compete with the new generation, many of whom are “ less than half” her age. 

“It's either a testament to my own sanity, or to my good planning, and I'd like to think it was the latter,” she joked. 

Beyond Paris, or perhaps even sooner, Storey divulged that competing in the Tour de France Femmes was most certainly in her plans. 

“I’d happily do it next week,” she stated emphatically. “I know it kind of sounds like a crazy thing to say where you've been a part of campaigning for it to happen for younger riders but that would be something that would be absolutely incredible.” 

Though this year has come to soon for Storey to take part, she hailed Dutch star Marianne Vos, one of the favourites for this year’s race, as someone she’d love to race again. 

“I’ve always been a huge fan of Marianne Vos. She's just so incredible and it kind of rubs off on you when you're racing those sorts of riders, so I'd love to get the opportunity to do that again.” 

Time will tell when we might see Storey racing through the streets of France but for now there is plenty more to focus on. Balancing time between helping the future generation and competing herself is evidently a challenging task, but as we all know by now, Storey will certainly not shy away from doing both. 

Dame Sarah Storey is an ambassador for Å KODA UK, Å KODA AUTO is a partner of the Tour de France Femmes. For more information visit www.skoda.co.uk/discover/cycling-hub