It hasn’t always been this way. Emma Robertson works on the business side of the team – managing elements such as their relationship with One Pro Cycling and the custom clothing. When she joined, in a role at Altura’s distributor Zyro (now ZyroFisher) over three years ago, the business was very different.

Emma explained: “It was very, very male orientated I would say. The brand management was quite male orientated. There was no weekly ride. I was the only person that wanted to go out. Then three people got together. And slowly it got up to the point that we had 15 riders on a Tuesday, within the business.”

There are many industries – cycling being one of them – where women ‘get used’ to working in a male dominated environment. We’re ‘alright’ with it, but most of us would like a little more female company.

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Emma explains: “I’ve never felt like I couldn’t do what I was doing because there were [mainly] men there, I’ve always felt like I can be quite a strong person in what I’m doing. But the mentality is just a bit different. Just to come into an environment where you say ‘what did you see in the shops’ and ‘what have you done this weekend’ and have that female vibe. It’s nice to have the boys as well – it’s nice to have balance. The products that we’re developing are very much those that we’re passionate about –  that we’re excited to test, and that we want, too.”

“The products that we’re developing are very much those that we’re passionate about”  – Emma Robertson, Product Line Co-Ordinator

Sophie Laliberte looks after the creation and design of product. She’s got years of experience working for brands such as Nike and Mizuno, and at Altura works primarily on the women’s kit, but also oversees all the other designers and developers.

She moved to the UK from Canada, and is a runner as well as a cyclist. Whilst she’s well aware that female cyclists are far outnumbered, she’s seen gender equality gained elsewhere and is confident we’ll see it in cycling.

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She wants Altura to be at the forefront of clothing brands catering for women, telling me: “[The women that work here] are really dominant, we have a big voice – we’re really strong. We know that girls like looking good, and like following trends. We say ‘how many women did you see cycling 5 years ago, compared to now?’ – we know that the audience is growing and we need to provide kit for them. When I moved back to England, I was one of the only ones – I was in Richmond park doing my ride every day, the only girl – and I asked ‘what’s wrong here?’ now it’s increasing – it’s not 50/50 – but it’s growing a lot.”

Sophie told me: “I remember when I was running in Canada, we’d do races and there would be a huge queue outside the women’s toilet, and it was empty for men. When I first moved to England, it was the opposite, the queue for men’s was so long and the queue for women’s was so short. Then it started to become more social, and the queue became more equal. It’s the same thing for cycling.”

She believes that the social element of sport, encouragement and a less competitive environment will all draw women in. She tells me she’s a big fan of events that allow women to hire bikes and test them, in an all female environment saying: “Women are less competitive than men. And they’re less likely to just go out and buy an expensive bike because their friends say they should. Women need to know if they’re going to like it. If they try once –they will say ‘this is amazing’. They’ll say ‘I felt free, and I felt faster’ – I felt like that. They need the invitation of trying, feeling comfortable and not intimidated.”