A 7-time Continental champion, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio is getting ready for the biggest challenge of her career, with dreams of the yellow jersey in the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. In her last season, the South-African star, at the helm of the SD Worx powerhouse, wants to inspire the next generations of women to shine over the highest French summits in the same way she was inspired watching the men's event. She will then lead more projects in the virtual world of cycling with the Rocacorba collective.
Your last season in the pro peloton will see you race the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. How special is this event for you?
I learned cycling late, after injuries, while I was studying at the university. In the July holidays, I'd sit on the couch and watch the Tour de France for three weeks, with the men racing on these beautiful climbs in France. It was really the first inspiration for me to become a professional cyclist myself. That’s the importance of the Tour de France. It’s the one race in road cycling that everyone all around the world knows about and has some experience of watching it. So when I first became a pro cyclist, it was the first question people always asked: "Do you ride the Tour de France?" Now, after 12 years of racing in the peloton, I can say yes! Finally, the women's peloton has the reach of the Tour de France. And we had a first taste during the pandemic, when we did the virtual Tour de France on Zwift in 2020. I won the queen stage on the virtual Mont Ventoux and the next day, I stopped for a coffee in Girona and my husband said to me: "Do you notice they are pointing at you?" I'm not used to this! And it was because they had watched the virtual Tour de France.
Were there some riders that got you especially inspired when you watched the Tour?
Alberto Contador. He was the one that stood out because of his style of racing, and I suppose it’s quite similar to my style of racing. He was a more explosive climber, he would accelerate, and then slow down, and then accelerate, keeping changing the pace, out of his saddle a lot. He’s really a rider I could identify with.
Around the same time, riders like Robbie Hunter and then Daryl Impey made history for African cycling...
Robbie Hunter was really the first one for me to be able to look up to. Daryl is actually more my age. He started to have success in the Tour de France at the same time that I was professional. Robbie Hunter was more the inspiration rider because he was in the Tour de France, winning a stage, always up there in the sprints when I was still dreaming to be a pro. And then of course, Daryl, in the years that I was already a pro alongside him, it was always great to see Africa, South Africa, performing so well on the world stage and the Tour de France, winning the yellow jersey. That was really inspiring.
Now you are the inspiration for African cyclists...
It’s really really very special. It’s actually quite a big responsibility sometimes to be an ambassador for a continent like Africa. It’s a very big continent! I have a lot of interaction with African women, especially from Ethiopia, Eritrea, in particular, Rwanda as well. They send me messages to ask: "How can we be a professional athlete like you?" It’s quite a challenge because there’s many barriers in the way for them, cultural barriers in their home countries and visa issues. Confidence is also one of the biggest barriers for a woman. So I’m trying to work a little bit on these problems, step by step, and at the moment I’m active in the Rocacorba collective, a virtual community that started during the Covid pandemic, when I realised the potential of the virtual world to connect people from all around the world. We have social rides to share our experience and hopefully inspire and motivate one another. I also have plans to open Zwift indoor training centres in ship containers, to make cycling accessible not only for young girls but also women who want to empower themselves through cycling. Hopefully, the first one will open by the end of the year in Khayelitsha, a township of Cape Town. All of this gives me a lot of purpose and a lot of motivation to suffer on the Super Planche des Belles Filles on the 31st of July!
What will make a successful Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift for you?
Of course, I'd love to win the yellow jersey. I know that's going to be a big task and I would be happy with a podium and a stage win. I'm doing my best to prepare and be in my best form possible to challenge for the yellow jersey. With a balanced route over eight days, we will have to be ready to make the difference at any moment, but all the time we have to keep in mind the Super Planche des Belles Filles. It was very important for me to do a recon of stage 4, in the vineyards of Champagne, with the gravel. It's really beautiful! And the stones are sharper than what we have in Strade Bianche, so that was important to notice. I think the yellow jersey can change a couple of times and it will all be decided in the mountains on the final weekend.
