Ashleigh Moolman: the illusion of running the Tour before retirement

Ashleigh Molman (Pretoria, 1985) is going through his last season as a professional cyclist this year. After twelve years in the elite, the South African decided to end his career, but not before competing for the first time in ‘Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift’a race she considers a “turning point” for the future of women’s cycling.

In 2018, Moolman achieved his best results, finishing sixth in the world ranking. Covid-19 did not stop his development and during the pandemic he discovered virtual cycling, he became enthusiastic and in 2020 he became the first winner of UCI eSports World Championship. But to achieve success, the 36-year-old cyclist had to travel a long way from his native Pretoria. He currently lives in Girona, where he has a business related to cycling and where he coordinates ‘Rocacorba Collective‘, her virtual community on Zwift aims to encourage training among women at all levels.

late starts

It took Ashleigh years to discover her talent for cycling. It wasn’t until she got to college, with Carl, her former partner and now husband, that she began to take it more seriously. Carl was an international triathlete for South Africa and they began sharing training. In 2009, her senior year of college, Ashleigh scored her first wins and joined a team that traveled to Europe with her. At that moment, it was clear to him that in order to become one of the best cyclists in the world, he had to live in the lands of Europe. Together with his wife, who has Italian roots, they decided to make the move and settled in Varese.

Despite being fascinated by the area, they found it difficult to integrate into the community, so after a while they began to consider other options. Finally, they chose Banyoles, a place very popular among professionals with a great environment to train. “We feel at home now,” Moolman said. So they decided to buy a house and open their business, ‘Rocacorba Cycling’.

All these years, Ashleigh has experienced firsthand the changes that have taken place in women’s cycling, which has become more professional. “When we started we didn’t have team buses… Over the years we have improved. The salary has also increased and despite the fact that we are still far from the men, the change is big,” he acknowledges. In addition, he believes that “now, thanks to the Tour, we will receive more media attention. This will be a new turning point.”

The Tour as an end to his career

After 33 years, the Tour de France returns to the professional women’s calendar with an eight-stage format. The test, sponsored by Zwift, will be very special for Ashleigh, as virtual cycling has allowed her to experience one of the best moments of her career. In 2020, South African won the first edition of the UCI eSports World Championship. The pandemic forced him to reinvent himself and that’s when he discovered the potential of virtual racing. “I am very satisfied with how I took one adversity at a time, managing to win a world title for South Africa, a country where cycling is not one of the most popular sports.”

Since then, Moolman has supplemented road training with virtual training, experiencing an improvement in his level and performance. Now, he arrives at the Tour with his homework done and his morale through the roof. “I am looking forward to starting in Paris. The preparation went well, I have reached a very good level and I want to show my best version,” he says.

Influencing cycling beyond competition

When the season is over Ashley This would end his professional career. However, it is clear that he will continue to be associated with cycling through his business and his virtual community on Zwift. “I always dreamed of influencing cycling. Having a team is a big project so I decided to start with an eSports team,” he said.

He personally experienced the difficulties of moving to a professional far away in Europe. Because of this, he is confident in his ability to help future generations with his projects. He remembers that “the best advice was given to me by the dean of my engineering faculty, when he told me that I needed to find my passion and throw myself into it.” She listened to him by cycling and began a journey that allowed her to “become the woman I am today”.

The same passion with which he lived his career is trying to bring it to his community. “I’m very happy with the ‘Rocacorba Collective’ because it’s growing so fast. We’re trying to help women find the best version of themselves,” she said.

But it doesn’t stop there. “We also have plans to help poor communities in South Africa through virtual cycling. We want to try to get more women into cycling and for this Zwift and the virtual environment is important because it is safe for women,” she concluded.