A former pro cyclist claims she was denied a team director job due to nude photo shoots.<\/p>\n
Belgian Tara Gins, who rode professionally from 2016-18, posed for Playboy last year and has also featured in a topless calendar.<\/p>\n
She said that the photo shoots had cost her a position with an unnamed men's team.<\/p>\n
"I had a verbal agreement to join a team," Gins wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n
"I was really looking forward to that. It's what I like to do. I want to learn and be in the support vehicle. But now apparently someone has made a problem of a photo in a book. <\/p>\n
"I don't mind now that the agreement was cancelled. It is better this way. I don't want to work with people who don't see my capabilities and just walk with the herd."<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CKjgPfBlPXW\/?utm_source=ig_embed&<\/a>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CHcZ_o0FoPX\/?utm_source=ig_embed&<\/a><\/p>\n Gins elaborated on her lost opportunity to Cycling News<\/a>. She said that the team was an under-23s outfit in Belgium.<\/p>\n "(The team boss) started the conversation by saying that he was breaking off the commitment that we had because someone on the team, a staff member came across pictures of me," she said.<\/p>\n "That person sent the pictures in a group chat to the other staff members. Apparently, it was a chat that I was not included in.<\/p>\n "Someone must have threatened the manager to send those pictures to one of the sponsors because that person has I don't know what kind of relationship with the sponsor.<\/p>\n "I'm not 100 per cent sure what photos they are talking about. In May last year, I did a photo shoot for Playboy<\/em> and then two months later I did another photo shoot for a calendar for a Belgian company.<\/p>\n "These calendars are only sent to their company customers, so you can't find the pictures online. You can only see the pictures if you work for the company.<\/p>\n "That calendar came out in the first week of January, and so I am guessing that it was the pictures in the calendar."<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CJJeNMAlDfo\/?utm_source=ig_embed&<\/a><\/p>\n Gins said in her initial Instagram post that she had endured a raft of difficult experiences in pro cycling.<\/p>\n "Those were photos that don't harm anyone. Apparently, these are now too inappropriate to work with riders. Apparently, a photo is more important than capabilities or experience. I want to thank everyone for the statements of support and leave this behind as soon as possible.," she wrote.<\/p>\n "In all the years that I have raced, I have already experienced so many negative things with team leaders or soigneurs. I was literally assaulted. Once a mechanic crept into the shower with me after a workout. I was once kissed by someone on the staff, and I had to push that person away from me. <\/p>\n "I once had very inappropriate comments from team managers about how I looked, about my weight, what they wouldn't do to me if I looked different. I had a manager come in when I was getting a massage to say how horny I looked.<\/p>\n "I've always argued against that, I've always pushed it off. But all of the things I've been through make this even more frustrating. <\/p>\n "I have now stopped racing and want to do my own things, get opportunities. And then they are taken back by those jerks, sorry so to speak, who have a double standard. Apparently, as a man, you can do a little more in the world."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"