The thing is, you won't - can't - stop the "sex sells" aspect. Women in sports where they are very successful and relatively high-profile can get involved in such things - tennis players, athletes, skiers and so on. And I don't blame guys for wanting to see attractive women, and I don't blame attractive women for using that to make some money, especially in a world like women's cycling without much money in it. But as long as women's cycling is being roundly ignored and this is the best way for them to grab publicity, it can only serve to perpetuate the image of it as an irrelevant side circus, not to be treated seriously. It's okay for Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Vonn or Yelena Isinbayeva to do glamorous photoshoots without any recourse to credibility; they're taken seriously as athletes (or at least in sports where the athletes are taken seriously).
Back around this time last year when we had a thread about 'next French superstar' I mentioned Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The first comment was "is she hot?" While the answer may be that she is very pretty, and this may be the key to invigorating women's cycling in the post-Longo doldrums (even the late-career Longo doldrums as they simply couldn't find anyone to replace her) in France as she will be very media-friendly (much as we don't want to admit it, the unpleasant fact of the matter is that people will find it easier to support an attractive person than an unattractive one, even if only because the media will be much happier to promote an attractive person as they are more sponsor-friendly), she is also an incredible prospect on the bike with high levels of talent on road, off road and in field, and that this was the immediate response speaks volumes.
Do I blame the girls for appearing in CyclePassion? Hell no. It's an all-too-rare opportunity to get some attention and money to a profession starved of both. Do I blame the people behind CyclePassion for doing it? Hell no. They've hit on a way to promote women's cycling, albeit not in the ideal manner, and if they're able to make money from it then fair enough. I think the same product could be created in a more tasteful and respectful manner, yes, but also that the problem lies not in the people who've tried to exploit the status quo but in the status quo itself.