Zwift Tour for All: Moolman-Pasio dominates the Epic on stage 3
South African gives CCC-Liv their third straight victory
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio gave the CCC-Liv team its third consecutive victory in the Zwift Tour for All on stage 3 on the first mountain top finish. The South African climber broke away from the field at the base of the final 9km ascent and soloed to the finish line nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Joscelin Lowden (Drops) and third placed Ella Harris (Canyon-SRAM).
The women raced the Medio Fondo loop located on the Zwift world Watopia. It was the longest stage of the five-day event at 72.9km and included 1,011m of climbing. There were two Queen of the Mountain with points offered to the first five riders to cross the line, along with an intermediate sprint that also awarded points to the first five riders, and finally points offered at the top of the 9km climb to the finish line to the top 25 riders.
Lauren Stephens (Tibco) took the first QOM points on the opening climb of Watopia Hill. It was Zwift Academy winner Ella Harris (Canyon-SRAM) that won the race to the top of the second ascent on Watopia's Volcano.
The field had dwindled to just 13 riders by the time they reached the base of the final climb with roughly 10km to go that included stage 2 winner Moolman-Pasio and Harris, along with Karol-Ann Canuel and Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans), Pauliena Rooijakkers (CCC-Liv), Brodie Chapman and Sara Gigante (Tibco), Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally) and Simone Boilard (Twenty20).
Moolman-Pasio accelerated at the bottom of the climb causing gaps to open up early. However, not far behind was a chase group with Stephens, Gigante, Lowden and teammate Rooijakkers.
The chasers weren't strong enough to bring Moolman-Pasio back and she went on to secure a second consecutive victory at the Tour for All, and third win for the CCC-Liv team as Marianne Vos won the opening stage.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv | 1:55:52 |
2 | Joscelin Lowden (GBr) Drops | 0:00:56 |
3 | Ella Harris (NZl) Canyon-Sram Racing | |
4 | Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | |
5 | Leah Dixon (GBr) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | |
6 | Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally Cycling Women | 0:00:59 |
7 | Sarah Gigante (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | 0:01:09 |
8 | Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv | 0:01:17 |
9 | Omer Shapira (Isr) Canyon-Sram Racing | 0:01:21 |
10 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-Sram Racing | 0:01:29 |
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
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