Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio: Racing the Tour de France Femmes for Africa

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio is riding to win at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, but she’s motivated by more than just wearing the famous yellow jersey.

The AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep leader heads into this year’s race on a high. She has recently signed a new contract with the team and although they go in as underdogs, Moolman-Pasio believes she is in the shape to secure a big result.

“The goal has been to have my best form for the Tour de Femmes and I believe that I'm on the perfect trajectory to really be the best I've ever been,” she told Cyclingnews from her home just outside Girona just ahead of the eight-day race set to begin on July 23 in Clermont-Ferrand and conclude in on July 30 in Pau.

It’s no secret that Moolman-Pasio’s former employers, SD Worx, have been the dominant team all season long and Demi Vollering starts the race as one of the heavy favourites.

With the way that things have been going, it would be tempting to hand Vollering the yellow jersey before the race has even begun. However, Moolman-Pasio is optimistic that the Dutch team won’t have it all their own way in France.

“SD Worx have had an absolutely phenomenal season and they are the team to beat for sure,” she said. “However, I think it does change a little bit going into the tours [as opposed to the classics]. Obviously, they've had a lot of their success through strength in numbers, and different cards to play, whereas now we head to the tours where we all know they have one card – it's Demi. It's easier for us to mark one rider than it is to mark all of them.

“I've decided to focus on myself, on my own preparation and being the best version of myself come the 23rd of July. I’m just going all in for the win.”

If you took a brief glance at the race route, it would be easy to assume the general classification will be played out on the final two days of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. However, having personally analysed the course in detail and ridden the first few stages, Moolman-Pasio is excited by the opportunities that the terrain in the early days offers.

“I think that the first few days are going to be super interesting. Of course, the Tourmalet and the time trial are going to be crucial, but it's not all about those stages. There is an opportunity to find a little bit of a buffer early on,” she said.

“I think it's a harder Tour de Femmes this year. There are some days where it's more inclined to be a sprint stage, but they are few and far between. Every day is climbing, more-or-less, so there are more altitude metres across the entire tour. I think the stages are really well positioned to create exciting racing from day one.”

"I was starting to become a bit exhausted by pro cycling"

In early 2022, Moolman-Pasio announced her retirement from cycling, before reversing the decision by the end of the year and signing for AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep. Her initial decision to quit was borne of frustration due to a bad fit with her previous team SD Worx.

Moolman-Pasio felt that she needed to be more than just a cyclist and the SD Worx environment didn’t allow for that. Although it’s a culture that enables many riders to thrive, it just didn’t work for her.

“I was starting to become a bit exhausted by pro cycling,” Moolman-Pasio recalled. “Don't get me wrong, SD Worx is a great team, but it was just about winning.

“It’s the sort of mindset where within your own team it's super competitive, so you're always fighting; that's how it is at SD Worx and it works for them, but it was becoming a bit exhausting for me.

“I never felt the full belief in my abilities from the team. I was always swimming against the current and I thrive best in an environment where I feel everyone believes in me and that we’re all on the same plan.

“When the opportunity arose to join AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep, it was a little bit more purpose-driven. It's about creating the full pathway from junior to elite and helping the young riders to grow and develop and that appealed to me. If I was going to continue, I wanted to have more of a purpose element, which really motivates me, rather than just being a winning machine.”

Moolman-Pasio felt that the results-driven juggernaut that is SD Worx quashed her sense of individuality. Pro cyclists have become too robotic, she said, “you don't have to only eat, sleep, drink cycling – it can be a platform to influence change.”

At AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep, Moolman-Pasio feels that she is able to scratch that itch that she was feeling at SD Worx. Her new team enables her to live out her purpose beyond the bike.

Empowering women in Africa through cycling

Earlier this year, Moolman-Pasio decided to disturb her Spring Classics campaign – her second biggest goal of the year – with a 17,000-kilometre round-trip. It makes little sense from a sporting perspective, but there was a greater purpose.

Through her Rocacorba Collective community, and in partnership with local bike shop Khaltsha Cycles, Moolman-Pasio purchased 30 bikes to donate to women in Khaletishya, the largest township in South Africa.

A few days after finishing 12th at Strade Bianche, she flew to her home country to deliver the bikes personally and to ride the 2023 Cape Town Cycle Tour event with the 30 women selected by Khaltsha Cycles.

It’s all part of a long-term initiative to empower women in Africa through cycling.

“Our end goal is to create an E-Sports and Learning Centre, positioned in shipping containers,” she explained. “We're in the process right now of purchasing a container… hopefully we'll be able to improve it and grow it as time goes by. It's just part of my purpose-driven side. It's what really motivates me as an athlete, to have some deeper purpose other than just winning bike races.”

Receiving their new bikes has already had an impact on the lives of these women and girls. Not only are they becoming better cyclists, but they also have access to new opportunities too.

“It's not necessarily about identifying the next Tour de Femmes champion or world champion,” Moolman-Pasio explained. “It's more about creating a safe environment for these girls, a sense of belonging. For these girls to have a safe space where they can come and feel that they belong, to keep them out of the streets, out of the gangs, away from alcohol, drugs, and teenage pregnancies, and hopefully give them a jump-start in life. Giving them good life skills, and values which will hopefully help them get through school and take the next steps to maybe go to university. Or it could be about opening doors for them to become bike mechanics or soigneurs or social media people in the cycling industry.

“Just going to the Cape Town Cycle Tour and handing over the bikes, what a massive difference it made for these girls to have brand new bikes, entry-level bikes, but a new bike with their name on it. It made such a big difference because all of a sudden, they felt important. Just that little gesture, what it does to their motivation.

“The idea I have is to create somewhat of a blueprint. I hope that we can see more of these centres popping up in other parts of South Africa or other parts of Africa.”

A near-fatal accident, a miraculous recovery

Talking to Moolman-Pasio, it’s obvious that this initiative is something she thinks about a lot and cares deeply for. It’s no PR stunt, it comes from somewhere deep within her. The Pretoria-born rider said her Christian faith, coupled with a near-fatal accident as a teenager, inspires her to make a difference.

“I know nowadays religion is sometimes kind of frowned upon, but I'm not religious, I'm a Christian. I suppose that's where the whole sort of paying it forward, kindness, love, all those types of things, come from.”

During her last year of high school, Moolman-Pasio had a near-fatal horse riding accident, leaving her in an induced coma for ten days. Doctors predicted she would suffer brain damage and would be unable to finish school.

“I made a full recovery and I still finished school in the same year, so I made a miraculous recovery. I believe it was a miracle and my faith that got me through it and saved me. That's when I realised that I was saved for a reason. Then finding cycling and feeling the empowerment that I did through cycling, I thought, well, cycling is my purpose. I need to use my role in cycling to make a difference, to positively impact the world in some way,” she said.

One of Moolman-Pasio’s plans to positively impact the world is to create a more stable pathway for women from Africa to be involved in professional cycling.

This year an all-time high of 16 African women are signed to UCI teams, but female African cyclists still experience significant barriers when it comes to making it as professionals. Visa issues, financial resources and cultural expectations all contribute to preventing them from racing.

These hurdles are not going away in a hurry, but Moolman-Pasio has a plan.

“My big ambition is to create a team where, as a South African, I can have a little bit of a better understanding of what their needs are and to create a proper pathway to the WorldTour. I've started now with my E-Sports team, maybe the next step is a gravel team, but at some point, I would like to have a road team that really focuses on creating a pathway for African cyclists.”

When Moolman-Pasio takes to the start line in Clermont-Ferrand on July 23, she will have those 30 women and girls from Khaletishya and others like them in her mind.

If she wins the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, it will be for them.