Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (née Moolman; born 9 December 1985) is a South African professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . 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 , in September 2014 it was announced that Moolman Pasio had signed an initial two-year deal with the 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 team, later renamed , from the 2021 season.

At the 2021 Giro Rosa, Moolman Pasio finished second overall as part of a 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 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 , later renamed . 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 13108 134 — DNF2462 — — Tour de France Femmescolspan=12 DNF6 La Vuelta Femeninacolspan=13 — Stage race Stage race 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs — — 11 18 177438 — — — — Tour Féminin des Pyrénéescolspan=12 —2 Vuelta a Burgos Feminascolspan=9 — 8 —3 Tour of Californiacolspan=5 — — — —3colspan=4 rowspan=2 Emakumeen Euskal Bira 116 DNF DNF42316 — The Women's Tourcolspan=4 23 — 2 7 — DNF — 5 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile — DNF — — — —11 — — — —

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish IP In progress NH Not held

References

External links