Last month, the first women’s Tour de France was held in over 30 years, representing both a powerful testament to the potential of the present moment and a reminder of how far we still have yet to come. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is not only a proper sister to the men’s race in terms of scale, difficulty, and level of performance, but is also a case study in public interest in women’s sports, which has gained a great deal of visibility over the last decade, shining a light on the athleticism women are capable of while also forcing us to confront decades of discrimination.
Tuesday July 26 2022 Tour de France Femmes (2.WWT) - Stage 3: Reims - Épernay (133km) Photo: ... [+]
The race proved a resounding success, generating enthusiastic fanfare, bringing in millions of viewers, and leaving many with the sense that the future of women’s sports is bright. But to get here, women athletes have fought tooth and nail to overcome immense challenges: lack of funding, lack of resources, lack of attention, and lack of opportunity. And while women’s sports have come a long way in these areas, it’s still frustratingly difficult to avoid issues of discrimination when discussing women competing at the elite level, which speaks to how much misogyny flattens our experiences and distracts from our accomplishments. So it’s critical that we celebrate how far we've come and use that energy to empower one another and remember that our worth doesn’t exist solely in relation to men.
With all of that in mind, I was lucky enough to speak with South African professional cyclist Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio—who raced in the Tour de France Femmes—about what it was like to compete in such a monumental race, the highs and lows of her thrilling race experience, the growing visibility of women in sports, fighting for respect, the power of women, and her endeavors off the course.
Liz Elting: Hi Ashleigh, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today. Could you take a moment and tell our readers a little about your history in cycling and how it led you here?
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio: I got into cycling later in life. I only discovered my talent while studying at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. My husband Carl was a top triathlete representing South Africa. When we met, he introduced me to a life of competitive, endurance sports. Very soon after we started dating, I started joining him on rides, and he noticed my talent. He encouraged me to start taking it more seriously. He started training with me more, he basically taught me everything I know. One thing led to the next, and I started racing the University League and winning the University National Championships. Then I started racing the local league races in my province, and I started performing really well and winning there. From there, I joined an amateur pro team in South Africa during the last year of my studies in 2009—that's when things really became apparent to me that I could become a pro. At that stage, I was the most promising talent in South Africa, and in my final year of studies, I had the opportunity to come to Europe to race the Tour de l'Ardèche in France. It was while racing this tour that I realized I wanted to move to Europe to pursue a professional cycling career—and that I had the potential to become one of the best pro cyclists in the world. After completing my studies, my husband Carl and I decided to take up this adventure together to leave South Africa and come to Europe so I could pursue a professional cycling career.
Elting: Last month, you raced in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the first women’s Tour de France since 1989. Just earlier this year, you had announced your retirement from professional road racing. What made you change your mind and what did racing in the Tour de France Femmes mean to you?
Moolman-Pasio: At the beginning of the year, I was totally convinced I’d retire at the end of this year after 13 years in the pro women’s peloton in Europe. However, towards the end of April, I started to reconsider. My reason for retirement was because I wanted to be more involved in my business Rocacorba Cycling, and I want to start a family. However, as the year unfolded, I proved to myself that I could balance business and pro cycling, with the successful launch of my virtual cycling community, Rocacorba Collective. I realized my performance level was higher than it’s ever been before—I believe this was largely due to the fact that I spent my off season training and racing on Zwift. I also started to notice the momentum the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was creating.
In early May, I received an offer I just couldn’t refuse. It was for double my current yearly salary, and it was an opportunity to do what I love most—mentoring young riders, while racing at the highest level of the sport. I’ve always had a passion for pushing women’s cycling forward and try to do so by leading by example, so it was an easy decision to extend for another year. I had the opportunity to continue to pursue my passion for cycling and to enjoy the momentum I’ve worked so hard to create over the years.
Elting: What was it like racing in such a monumental event for women, cycling, and sports at large? Can you describe your experience traversing the course—highs, lows, and all?
Moolman-Pasio: Racing the Tour de France Femmes was everything I imagined it to be and so much more. I’ve spent years watching the men’s Tour de France, admiring the amazing spectacle it was. And finally, we had a chance to experience the spectacle ourselves. It really is the biggest race in the world for so many reasons—the level of organization, the crowds of fans watching, the TV exposure, and attention from all around the world. In all my years in women’s cycling, I´ve never experienced anything like it, not even the World Championships or the Olympic Games. This level of competition and exposure is what women’s cycling has been needing for so many years, and I’m so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to experience it firsthand during the course of my career.
The first stage on the Champs-Élysées was goosebump material. It was a hard day on the bike, but all the excitement and anticipation made all the hard work riding on the tough cobbles seem like a breeze. I was very happy to get through it safely and without any incidents. I went on to experience a massive high on stage 3 where I felt super strong and played a key role in animating the final stages of the race, attacking up the steep climbs before the finish. I came so close to winning the stage, after sprinting to a third place finish on an uphill kick to the line. This was my first taste of the hype of the Tour de France Femmes—I was absolutely blown away by all the messages and reactions I received on social media after and continue to receive from my family, friends and fans when I bump into them, even weeks after the event.
Stage 4 was also a huge highlight, racing on the white gravel roads of the Champagne region of France. It was a tough day on the bike, but I’m always up for a challenge, and I love the excitement and thrill of racing on gravel.
Then, unfortunately, things started to go a little downhill for me from that day. I was sitting fifth on the GC (general classification, which tracks the fastest cumulative times for cyclists in multi-stage races), and I was totally convinced I could win, or at least finish on the final GC podium, but unfortunately, I came down with a gastrointestinal virus, which finally hit me like a ton of bricks on stage 7 (the first big mountain day and a crucial stage). My mind was still 100% committed to contesting for the win, but my body let me down. As we hit the first big mountain challenge on stage 7, I followed my instinct to do what I do best—I was up front following the best of the best to contest for the stage win and tour victory. But my body wasn’t its normal self. As I pushed harder, my body ached all over and my muscles exploded. I continued to do my best to fight my way through the stage losing contact with the lead, then the second group, then the third. I finished that day completely depleted and totally heart broken. I spent the night struggling to keep any food down and the next morning, I realized I had no choice but to withdraw from the race on the final stage: the queen stage (the most difficult stage of a multi-day road race) up the Super Planche des Belles Filles, a stage which suited me so well and one I’d worked so hard to be well prepared for in the months and weeks leading up to the tour.
I left the tour feeling very disappointed, but this disappointment was very quickly replaced with immense motivation to come back even stronger next year. I’d had the opportunity to sample the immenseness of the Tour de France Femmes, and I’m now hungrier than ever to come back for more.
Elting: Thank you so much for going into such fantastic detail. I'm struck by the thrill, spectacle, and drama that comes out of such a high-level, large-scale, multi-day day race. The Tour de France Femmes is being heralded as a great success. ASO reported a peak of 5.1 million viewers for the finale of the race, with a daily average viewership of 2.25 million viewers per day, numbers that are really exciting for a first running. Was that energy felt during the race? Do you sense there’s real movement on the ground toward parity for women’s sports in popular consciousness?
Moolman-Pasio: Yes, absolutely! From the crowds watching every day on the roads, to the social media interactions, to the TV numbers. The writing is on the wall, and the numbers speak for themselves. The appetite for women’s cycling has been mounting over the years and now it has totally exploded. I’ve always believed that a big brand needed to put its weight behind women’s cycling to give it a leg up. Finally, Zwift has done so. And I believe it’s just going to gain massive momentum from here. It’s already evident with all the interest in women’s cycling, the new teams that are popping up, and the rising salaries.
Elting: What do you hope people take away from the Tour de France Femmes?
Moolman-Pasio: I hope the greater public has experienced the excitement and energy of women’s cycling, and the passion of the women’s peloton. I hope that equal opportunity becomes the norm and not an exception. I hope more women become inspired by the stories of the women’s peloton, and that this can help grow the female fan base and women’s participation in cycling. But most importantly, I hope the young girls who watched us race the Tour de France Femmes look up to us as role models and realize that cycling can be a career choice for them in the future.
Elting: I’m curious about the experience of being a woman enmeshed with the culture of cycling? Do you feel that top performers such as yourself are afforded the same respect or consideration as your male counterparts?
Moolman-Pasio: In the early days of my career, I certainly didn’t get the same respect or consideration as my male counterparts. Having earned a degree in a male-dominated field (engineering), where I was a minority but was always treated with respect and equality from my male peers, I found this very frustrating in the early years. I found myself having to prove myself by dropping men who rode with me, or at least giving them a good challenge for them to realize the power and potential of women’s cycling. But as the sport has evolved over the years, our power numbers have become more visible through platforms like Zwift and Strava, and as the exposure of the sport has grown, so has the respect for us as professional cyclists. And now, especially after the success of the Tour de France Femmes and the great exposure we’ve experienced, I’d say we are very close to parity in respect and consideration.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
