South African cycling champions, Robyn de Groot and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, faced the world’s best at the UCI Marathon World Championships in Italy.
The course proved to be demanding both of strength and technical skill which saw de Groot place 6th and Moolman-Pasio 12th in the Elite Women’s race.
“A brutal course with a more “XCO flare” to it & a star-studded field of Marathon and XCO specialists always meant it would be a super tough day out. I left absolutely everything out there, so much so that it was impossible to keep chasing Ariane Luthi up that final cobbled climb as she steamed past me to finish extremely strong in 5th position – always a tough rival,” revealed de Groot.
35-year-old Moolman-Pasio shared her excitement as she competed in her first pro MTB marathon.
“Sometimes you have to throw yourself into the deep end and find a way to swim … my first pro MTB marathon and it happened to be World Champs on the beautiful Elba Island which also happens to be an MTB Mecca. From last on the start grid … I finished 12th on a super tough and technical course. And with a stacked field full of XCO and XCM superstars! I’m proud of my effort … it’s by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done with a TSS of 383, 3500m ascent in 80km, and 5hrs of racing full gas.”
South African Elite Women Race Results:
6th Robyn de Groot
12th Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio
33rd Sarah Hill
37th Theresa Ralph
Photo 1 Caption: South African cycling champions, Robyn de Groot and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, faced the world’s best at the UCI Marathon World Championships in Italy. Photo: Robyn de Groot (Instagram)
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
