Ash: Eager, Determined, Fierce, Open, Talented

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, South Africa’s most successful woman cyclist, has had an up-and-down year in 2019; but she’s learning to conquer her own demons against the best in the world ahead of an Olympic year.

- Nic Lamond

IT WAS MY LUCKY BREAK. South African cycling powerhouse AshleighMoolman Pasio was taking an unusual mid-season hiatus from the incessant demands of professional cycling at the highest level. It was August, and the race calendar was packed. Ash’s CCC-Liv teammates were dicing it out in the Women’s World Tour (WWT) at the Postnord Vårgårda West Sweden.

Despite being a pillar of the CCC-Liv set up, Ash was back ‘home’ in Catalonia, eastern Spain, pressing a hard reset on a challenging 2019 season in her new team.

Ash was unfamiliar in a casual summer dress. The distinctive South African flag on her white jersey, as national road race and time-trial champion, was absent. The usual grinding race intensity etched across her face from pixelated TV footage was also missing. In its place was a relaxed and open-hearted humour.

I caught up with Ash at Can Campolier, a sprawling 17th Century Spanish villa Ash and her family bought and have been renovating over the past 18 months. Can Campolier is in Banyoles, a picturesque meander north of the road-cycling mecca of Girona. Alongside her husband, Carl Pasio, her dad and stepmom, Johan and SandyMoolman, and long-time friend and ex-pro roadie Ed Greene, Ash has built the ultimate cycling escape at the bottom of Catalonia’s most famous Pyrenean climb – the Rocacorba.

Nice has the Madone, Lucca the Mont Serra, and Girona the Rocacorba. Iconic climbs shrouded in legend, and used by the world’s best cyclists to build world-beating form.