Well, the CTC mail shot is presenting it as cycle promotion and campaigning. "CTC has supported female cyclists since our earliest days when we took up the case of Lady Harberton, who was banned for wearing 'rational dress' after she cycled to an inn for lunch in 1899.
Over a century later, we are still campaigning to get more women on wheels. Sadly, when it comes to cycling, women are still in the minority, and it concerns us that 99% of sports sponsorship is aimed solely at men." Which is great, but it does seem odd for CTC to get involved in racing. There are non-racing CTC events and campaigns aimed solely at women - here we have a thing called "Get Gorgeous" which takes women newbies and trains them from wobble to riding up Cheddar Gorge. Makes sense. Racing doesn't seem to fit the CTC - but then again, didn't there used to be CTC time trials?