# Ashleigh Moolman Pasio

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (née Moolman; born 9 December 1985) is a South African professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam AG Insurance–Soudal. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's road race, finishing 16th and in the Women's time trial finishing 24th.
On 9 December 2020, she won the first edition of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, organised on the online cycling platform Zwift.

## Career

She tried to start a career in triathlon but after discovering her talent in cycling, and a series of injuries, dedicated herself fully to professional road cycling.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she won the bronze medal in the women's road race and finished 15th in the women's individual time trial.

### Bigla Pro Cycling Team (2015–2018)

After spending one season riding for Team Hitec Products, in September 2014 it was announced that Moolman had signed an initial two-year deal with the Bigla Pro Cycling Team from 2015.
In 2018, she finished second overall in the Giro Rosa, and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. She also took the final podium place at La Course by Le Tour de France. She took two victories during the season, winning La Classique Morbihan and the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan on consecutive days, just as she had done in 2017.

### CCC Liv (2019–2020)

In 2019, Moolman Pasio won her fifth South African National Road Race Championships title, and her first since 2015, finishing almost two minutes clear of her closest rival in Tshwane. Moolman Pasio took two further victories during the season, winning July's Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa, and then won the time trial at the African Games the following month. She finished third overall at both the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, and the Tour of California, fourth overall at the Giro Rosa, and fifth in La Course by Le Tour de France.
In 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced suspension of racing, Moolman Pasio won her sixth South African National Road Race Championships title, as well as a fifth title in the South African National Time Trial Championships.

### SD Worx (2021–2022)

In September 2020, Moolman Pasio signed a two-year contract with the Boels–Dolmans team, later renamed SD Worx, from the 2021 season.
At the 2021 Giro Rosa, Moolman Pasio finished second overall as part of a SD Worx clean sweep of the podium. Having finished second to teammate Anna van der Breggen on the second stage to the ski resort of Prato Nevoso, Moolman Pasio soloed to a stage victory – her first victory at the race – on the penultimate day, a summit finish on the Matajur. She ultimately finished 1' 43" down on Van der Breggen, while also finishing second in the mountains classification behind Lucinda Brand. She also finished second at the Ladies Tour of Norway, having been the closest competitor to Annemiek van Vleuten on the uphill finish to the Norefjell ski resort, before being dropped with around 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) to go.
Moolman Pasio recorded top-ten finishes in each of her first six starts in 2022, the best of which was a podium finish – third place – at Strade Bianche. In July, she was named as one of the pre-race favourites for the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes. She finished third on the third stage, but withdrew from the race before the final stage due to illness. She finished the season with a stage win and the overall victory at the inaugural Tour de Romandie Féminin, her first victories on the UCI Women's World Tour. She dropped Annemiek van Vleuten on the summit finish to Thyon, ultimately winning the stage by 26 seconds and the overall race the following day by 30 seconds – as a result, she became the first African rider to win on the UCI Women's World Tour.

### AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step

Having previously stated that she was going to retire at the end of the 2022 season, Moolman Pasio signed a one-year contract for the 2023 season with AG Insurance–NXTG, later renamed AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step. In her first race with the team, the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, Moolman Pasio won the third stage of the race in a three-up sprint against Amanda Spratt and Annemiek van Vleuten. She ultimately finished the race second overall, one second down on teammate Justine Ghekiere. Moolman Pasio's next podium finishes came in Spain in May; she won another three-rider sprint, this time against Ane Santesteban and Claire Steels, to win Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, and then finished third overall at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas later the same week.

## Personal life

Moolman Pasio has a degree in chemical engineering from Stellenbosch University, where she met her future husband, semi-professional XTERRA triathlete Carl Pasio. The couple own Rocacorba Cycling, a cyclotourism business, operating from a 17th-century estate in Porqueres, Spain.

## Major results

Source:

### 2009

    2nd Road race, National Road Championships

### 2010

    10th Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT

### 2011

    African Road Championships
       1st Road race
       2nd Time trial
    National Road Championships
       2nd Time trial
       4th Road race
    2nd Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
    6th Overall Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira
       1st Mountains classification
    9th Halle-Buizingen
    9th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    9th Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT

### 2012

    African Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
    National Road Championships
       1st Road race
       2nd Time trial
    1st Mountains classification, Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs
    2nd Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
       1st Stage 2 (ITT)
    3rd Overall Tour de Free State
       1st Stage 4
    5th La Flèche Wallonne
    10th Overall Giro d'Italia
    10th Trofeo Alfredo Binda

### 2013

    African Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
    National Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
    1st Holland Hills Classic
    2nd Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
    3rd La Flèche Wallonne
    4th Overall Tour Languedoc Roussillon
    5th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    8th Overall Giro d'Italia

### 2014

    National Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
    2nd Le Samyn
    3rd Road race, Commonwealth Games
    4th Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
    5th La Flèche Wallonne
    5th Gooik–Geraardsbergen–Gooik
    8th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
    8th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    10th Holland Hills Classic

### 2015

    African Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
       1st Team time trial
    National Road Championships
       1st Road race
       1st Time trial
    1st Overall Auensteiner–Radsporttage
       1st Mountains classification
       1st Stage 3
    1st 94.7 Cycle Challenge
    2nd Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
    2nd Giro dell'Emilia
    4th Overall Giro d'Italia
    4th Strade Bianche
    4th La Flèche Wallonne
    4th GP de Plouay
    4th Crescent Women World Cup Vargarda TTT
    6th Le Samyn
    7th Overall Festival Luxembourgeois du Elsy Jacobs
    7th Chrono des Nations
    10th Trofeo Alfredo Binda
    10th Tour of Flanders

### 2016

    1st Overall Auensteiner–Radsporttage
       1st Stage 2b
    1st Overall Giro della Toscana
       1st Points classification
       1st Prologue & Stage 2
    2nd Overall The Women's Tour
    2nd Crescent Vårgårda UCI Women's WorldTour TTT
    2nd Giro dell'Emilia Internazionale Donne Elite
    3rd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    3rd Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
    3rd Holland Hills Classic
    4th Overall Festival Luxembourgeois du Elsy Jacobs
    5th SwissEver GP Cham-Hagendorn
    6th Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
    8th Pajot Hills Classic
    10th Road race, Olympic Games

### 2017

    National Road Championships
       1st Time trial
       3rd Road race
    1st Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
       1st Points classification
       1st Mountains classification
       1st Stage 5
    1st Overall Giro della Toscana
       1st Points classification
       1st Mountains classification
       1st Stage 2
    1st La Classique Morbihan
    1st Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
    1st 947 Cycle Challenge
    2nd Crescent Vårgårda UCI Women's WorldTour TTT
    UCI Road World Championships
       3rd Team time trial
       7th Time trial
    3rd Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
    3rd Overall Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs
       1st Prologue
    6th La Flèche Wallonne
    6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    7th Overall The Women's Tour
    9th Amstel Gold Race
    10th Trofeo Alfredo Binda

### 2018

    1st La Classique Morbihan
    1st Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
    2nd Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
       1st Mountains classification
    2nd Overall Giro Rosa
    2nd La Flèche Wallonne
    3rd La Course by Le Tour de France
    3rd Team time trial, Open de Suède Vårgårda
    3rd Team time trial, Tour of Norway
    4th Tour of Flanders
    4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    6th Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
    6th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    7th Gent–Wevelgem
    8th Overall Festival Elsy Jacobs
    8th Strade Bianche
    8th GP de Plouay – Bretagne

### 2019

    1st Time trial, African Games
    National Road Championships
       1st Road race
       4th Time trial
    1st Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa
    1st Taiwan KOM Challenge
    3rd Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
    3rd Overall Tour of California
    4th Overall Giro Rosa
    4th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
    5th La Course by Le Tour de France
    6th Strade Bianche
    6th Clasica Femenina Navarra
    7th La Flèche Wallonne
    8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships

### 2020

    1st UCI Cycling Esports World Championships
    National Road Championships
       1st Time trial
       1st Road race
    6th Overall Giro Rosa
    6th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    6th La Flèche Wallonne

### 2021

    2nd Overall Giro Rosa
       1st Stage 9
    2nd Overall Tour of Norway
    4th Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa
    7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    7th Brabantse Pijl
    8th Time trial, Summer Olympics
    8th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
    9th Amstel Gold Race
    9th GP de Plouay

### 2022

    1st Overall Tour de Romandie
       1st Stage 2
    3rd Strade Bianche
    4th UCI Esports World Championships
    4th La Flèche Wallonne
    4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
    4th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    5th Overall The Women's Tour
    7th Amstel Gold Race
    8th Brabantse Pijl
    10th Trofeo Alfredo Binda

### 2023

    1st Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
    2nd Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
       1st Stage 3
    2nd CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos Feminas
    6th La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
    6th Overall Tour de France Femmes
    8th Amstel Gold Race
    10th Dwars door Vlaanderen

### General classification results timeline

Grand Tour :
| Grand Tour | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Giro d'Italia Femminile | 17 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 4 | — | DNF | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | — | — |
| Tour de France Femmes | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | DNF | 6 |
| La Vuelta Femenina | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | — |
| Stage race |||||||||||||||
| Stage race | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs | — | — | 11 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | — | NH | — | — | — |
| Tour Féminin des Pyrénées | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | — | 2 |
| Vuelta a Burgos Feminas | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | — | NH | 8 | — | 3 |
| Tour of California | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | — | — | — | — | 3 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| Emakumeen Euskal Bira | 11 | 6 | DNF | DNF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | — | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| The Women's Tour | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | Did not exist | 23 | — | 2 | 7 | — | DNF | NH | — | 5 | NH |
| Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | NH | — | — | |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| IP | In progress |
| NH | Not held |