Ashley Moolman-Pasio has extended her contract with AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick Step through the end of 2024, committing to at least one additional season as a professional after announcing her retirement last year.

The deal will be announced at the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift press conference this afternoon. Moolman-Pasio will lead the team in his first appearance in the race.

The move comes after a successful first half of the season with the Belgian team, in which the South African won a stage at the CIC-Tour Féminin Pyrénées with Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and a UCI 1.1-level race in Spain He also won the Durango-Durango race in Spain.

The 37-year-old joined AG Insurance Soudal-Quick Step this season after two years with Team SD Walks.

As the oldest rider on the team, Moolman-Pasio says he was able to offer advice to his younger colleagues, many of whom had never ridden such a quality calendar. After taking some time to get to know her new teammates, she believes that by extending her contract, she and the team will be able to achieve better results next season.9]

"It always takes at least a year to find our place and get to know each other," Moolman-Pasio said prior to the announcement told Cycling News

. [I'm very excited about next year because I think it will be the year we can achieve the results we are aiming for, especially in the Classics. I'm really excited about the Classics, because a lot of my teammates in the Classics have not run those races this season, and I think we're going to have a lot of success in the Classics.

"We got off to a great start in Valencia. We only had two training camps together, but the fact that we came together like that in Valencia proves that we are that kind of group."

AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep team manager Natascha den Ouden acknowledges the impact Mourman-Pasio has had on the team and is optimistic that even better results will come.

"First and foremost, Ashley is a very experienced rider. He realized that a U23 team alone wouldn't work." There are a lot of talented young riders out there, but in order for young riders to thrive, we needed experienced riders to share their racing and life experiences."

"Ashley shares not only that experience, but also the joy and professionalism of racing. This greatly inspires young talent. She boosts the team in every way with her professionalism as an athlete and her personality as a human being"

.

"We are looking forward to achieving great results with her. She will boost the whole team and we want to inspire other teams and projects with our vision. Not only to win, but also to learn and gain experience to grow as a person."

In early 2022, Moolman-Pasio announced her retirement from racing, but later that year she reversed that decision and signed a contract with AG Insurance Soudal Quickstep for this season. At the time, she stated that she was still improving and still had more to accomplish

as a reason to put off her retirement a little longer.

The 2020 UCI Cycling Esports World Champion is looking ahead to 2024 and perhaps beyond. She credits Zwift, an online training platform, with allowing her to continue this growth well into her late 30s.

"My power data has improved every year, and I think Zwift is actually the reason I was able to take a big step forward last year, which would have been my last year at SD Worx," Moolman-Pasio said.

"Cycling on Zwift actually makes you physically stronger because it is a combination of gym work and cycling-specific intervals.