Tour of Britain inspiring more Muslim women to cycle
Tour of Britain inspiring more Muslim women to cycle
Sumaiya Motara - North WestThu, August 20, 2026 at 5:11 AM UTC
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The Spokes Sisters group was formed in 2023 to help Muslim women boost their cycling confidence levels
The organiser of a community cycling group has said this week's Tour of Britain women's race can inspire more Muslim women to get onto wheels.
Shabana Seedat set up Spokes Sisters in 2023, after she noticed Muslim women who wanted to cycle did not feel confident enough to start, but she says high profile women's races are "empowering".
Lancashire welcomed the Tour of Britain women's cycling race to the county for the first time on Wednesday, with stage two passing through more than 70 miles (about 113km) from Clitheroe to Blackpool.
Seedat, 42, said: "Seeing these events does encourage myself and my fellow Muslim women to go out there and do some more cycling."
She added: "We've started to do a lot of inclines in the hills, so that has pushed us to do that."
Muslim women are underrepresented in cycling, but Seedat believes her group shows the sport is not "limited to others" and believes "the bike lane is for everyone, and we're here to prove it".
Seedat, who started cycling during the Covid-19 pandemic, realised a barrier for some women was actually owning and storing a bike, so she applied for funding from Cycling UK last year to procure some bikes and store them.
Shabana Seedat believes the Tour of Britain women's race can inspire more Muslim women to take up cycling
She said some of the women now learning to ride bikes were over the age of 50 and had never cycled before.
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Seedat added more diversity in cycling was important, and her "learn to ride" sessions and group outings showed that "Muslim women can do what we want to do - we do go out cycling and keep ourselves fit".
"We ride for joy, for mental health and for sisterhood," Seedat said. "It's just about the freedom of the open road, and to show Muslim women and girls, that they can be on the saddle, they can be riding as well."
Seedat said she encouraged all women to take up cycling for their physical and mental wellbeing. "Going out in the countryside, the fresh air, the nature, it is just a different feeling altogether."
Zubeida Osman had not ridden a bike properly in 20 years before joining Spokes Sisters
One of the women in the group, Zubeida Osman, 33, said she had not ridden a bike properly in 20 years before joining in June.
Osman said Muslim women might not have the opportunity or exposure to cycling, but that groups like Spokes Sisters gave women the confidence to start.
"I think visibility makes a huge difference," Osman said. "When you see women from your own community cycling and enjoying it, you start to think, 'Actually, I could do that too'."
Osman, who began learning to cycle to improve her fitness, said she would definitely be listening in and following the Tour of Britain on Wednesday, and that it was "brilliant to have women's cycling being celebrated here in Lancashire".
"Now that I've started cycling, I appreciate it in a completely different way than I would have a few months ago," she said.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
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Tour of Britain women's cycling race 2026: Clitheroe to Blackpool
Free cycling festival to celebrate Tour of Britain
Related internet links
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Tour of Britain Women
Source: “AOL Sports”
