Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has extended her contract with AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep until the end of 2024, committing to at least one additional season as a professional after having set aside her retirement plans last year.
The agreement will be announced at the team’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift press conference this afternoon. Moolman-Pasio is due to lead the team in its first appearance at the race.
The move comes after a successful first half of a season with the Belgian team, with the South African picking up stage wins at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and CIC-Tour Féminin Pyrénées, as well as another victory in the UCI 1.1 level Durango–Durango race in Spain.
The 37-year-old joined AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep at the start of this season, having spent the previous two years at Team SD Worx.
As the most senior rider in the team, Moolman-Pasio says she has been able to give advice to her younger colleagues, many of whom have never ridden such a high-quality calendar before. Having taken some time to gel with her new teammates, she believes that extending her contract will enable her and the team to achieve better results in the coming season.
“It always takes at least a year to find our place and to get to know each other,” Moolman-Pasio told Cyclingnews prior to the announcement.
“That's why I believe it would be really great to have another year with the team because I think next year will be the year where, particularly in the Classics, we can get the results that we are aiming for. This season it was a little bit more difficult in the Classics because a lot of the teammates that I had in the Classics had never ridden those races before.”
“We got off to a flying start in Valencia and that was really, really special. We only had two training camps together and to come together like we did at Valencia was just a testament to the group that we are.”
AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep team manager Natascha den Ouden recognised Moolman-Pasio’s impact on the team and is optimistic that even better results are to come.
“First and foremost, Ashleigh is a very experienced rider,” she said. “We have noticed that a U23 team alone does not work. We have a wealth of talented young riders but we needed experienced riders to share race and life experience with the young riders in order for them to grow.
“Ashleigh has that experience but also racing joy and professionalism to share. This is extremely inspiring to young talent. She boosts our team in all areas with her professionalism as an athlete and her personality as a human being.
“We hope to achieve great results with her. She lifts the team in general and I hope to inspire other teams and projects with our vision. It is not only about winning but also about learning and taking experiences to grow as a person.”
In early 2022, Moolman-Pasio announced her retirement from racing, only to reverse the decision later in the year to sign with AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep for this season. At the time, she stated that her reason for putting off retirement a little longer was that she was still improving and had more to achieve.
That sentiment remains as the 2020 UCI Cycling Esports world champion looks ahead to 2024 and possibly beyond. She heaps praise on Zwift, the online training platform, for helping her to make these continued gains into her late-thirties.
“My power data is still improving from year to year and I think the big steps that I took last year, during what should have been my final year with SD Worx, was actually due to Zwift,” Moolman-Pasio said.
“Cycling on Zwift actually makes me physically stronger because it's a combination between gym work and cycling specific intervals… I believe this is what's really helped me to take these next steps in the past two years.”
