The Ardennes Classics came to a close on Sunday with Liege Bastogne Liege as the final race in the week-long hilly classics. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio was again impressive as she has been all season. The South African finished with a great fourth place after second in Fleche Wallonne earlier in the week.
The Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling team followed the day’s pre-race plan by making for aggressive racing. The team set up Moolman-Pasio perfectly when it came to the closing kilometres.
“Our game plan was to have an aggressive race and see what we get from that. Every rider was in 100%. It was impressive to see Clara [Koppenburg] and Ann-Sophie [Duyck] taking another step forward and have a great race,” Moolman-Pasio said.
“I’m always super impressed by Emma [Norgaard Jorgensen]. I told her during the recon on Friday that I really needed her to suffer on the climb before La Redoute because I needed her in the descent afterwards. It’s incredible how she delivers when you give her a job, she was incredible in positioning me. Nicole [Hanselmann] coming back to racing also did a great job positioning me in the climb. In the final it was up to Cille [uttrup Ludwig] and I. I attacked up La Roche and having two Boels riders and Annemiek [van Vleuten] go with was a little dangerous. When it came back I tried again up Saint Nicolas. Cille did a great leadout into the climb for me. I attacked from the bottom and maybe went too early. It was a tactical game to the finish with Annemiek just sitting my wheel understandably with a teammate in the front.”
Anna van der Breggen took the win ahead of Amanda Spratt while Moolman-Pasio and van Vlueten were the next riders heading to the finish.
Moolman-Pasio concluded by saying, “It’s been a good Spring campaign and the team is getting stronger. We can only go from strength to strength through the year. I’m proud of the team and how we come together. We have a great environment with the staff improving race to race and with Thomas [Campana] we have the best director in the game. We have big goals this year and the big win is coming.”
