National road champion Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has moved up to number six in the elite women UCI world rankings following her victory in the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge on Sunday.
South African Road Cycling Champion, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Bigla Pro Cycling Team), is to date the highest ranked South African woman road cyclist, after climbing to sixth place in the Elite Women UCI Individual World Rankings after the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge UCI 1.1 Women’s Race at the weekend. Photo: Craig Dutton / pics2go.co.za
Moolman-Pasio, who rides for the Swiss-based Bigla Pro team, is now the highest ranked South African female cyclist to date.
The Cycle Challenge saw 120 elite female riders competing for line honours in the first edition of the event to be awarded UCI 1.1 status.
Her victory gave Moolman-Pasio 80 UCI points, which saw her move up three places on the global rankings.
She has also helped to push South Africa into the top 10 on the women’s nations ranking, moving up from 12th to the number nine spot. This will eventually determine the number of qualifying riders for the Rio Olympics.
Moolman-Pasio’s fellow countrywomen An-Li Kachelhoffer (83), Cherise Stander (93) and Lise Olivier (96) have also gained entry into the top 100 on the UCI individual rankings.
They will have until May 31 to increase their individual tallies, which will affect the nation’s rankings. Local UCI points races include the national road and African championships.
