Cyclist denounces sexual abuse at World Cup: ‘He kept repeating that he was going to rape me’

Three-time Spanish runner-up in enduro mountain biking, cyclist Ares Masip made a strong statement on social media and reported having suffered sexual abuse during the MTB World Cup stage in Leogang, Austria, in June 2023. The athlete from 29 years old stated that she was raped by another cyclist in the competition paddock.

“The test was very long and I had been sleeping for a few hours in my van. He showed up in the middle of the night and tried to force me to have sex. He continued to rub his penis on my body, tried to kiss me and insisted. I just I asked him to stop. I wanted to scream, push him away or leave.

Ares also said that, at first, he tried to forget the episode. But he decided to go public after meeting the attacker again at competitions and learning that he had tried to do the same to another athlete. She took the case to the local authorities in Andorra, where she lives and competes, and to the international cycling federation (UCI).

“I tried to pretend that nothing had happened, but after a few months we found ourselves on the slopes. Little by little I became aware of the seriousness of the events and decided to report it. Judicially I don’t know what will happen, but I wanted to make it public because unfortunately This happens more often than we think.”