Zwift Tour for All: Moolman-Pasio wins women's stage 2

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio gave the CCC-Liv team its second consecutive victory in the Zwift Tour for All, following up Marianne Vos' win on stage 1 with a powerful surge on the final climb of Zwift's simulation of the 2015 Richmond worlds course.

Moolman-Pasio pushed CCC-Liv to a one-point advantage over Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank in the standings, with Canyon-SRAM a distant 42 points behind.

"I had to work for it," Moolman-Pasio said. "It was super exciting and I loved it."

The South African and her teammate Vos tag-teamed the intermediate sprint bonuses, taking turns to grab the QOM points that added to the team's tally in the overall classification. 

Moolman-Pasio has been racing frequently on Zwift during the coronavirus lockdown in Spain and used her knowledge to her advantage, using a well-timed featherweight bonus to escape for the win on the final climb.

"I'm lucky enough to have experience hacing raced Zwift classics," Moolman-Pasio said. "I've spent several weeks on Zwift during the lockdown in Spain. I wanted to make the race as hard as possible together with my teammates so the final attack, which I planned to do on the final climb. I was lucky enough to have a feather to help me out."

Vos and Moolman-Pasio were part of a nine-rider chase group behind solo attacker Kirsten Faulkner (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) coming into the final two laps of the punchy circuit.

Also in the group were Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans), Lauren Stephens and Nina Kessler (Tibco), Tanja Erath and Jessica Pratt (Canyon-SRAM), Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally Cycling), and Alice Tacey (Drops).

The group reeled in Faulkner just outside 10km to go and then had to face the trio of short, sharp climbs of Libby Hill, 23rd Street and the final push to the finish line on Broad Street.

A surge on 23rd street distanced Majerus, Tacey, Pratt and Erath, leaving six riders in contention for victory heading into the final 800m. As they rounded the bend to start the climb, Moolman-Pasio shot out of the pack then turned on her featherweight bonus and vanished up the road.

As she celebrated the win, Stephens surged in for second with Vos rounding out the podium in third.