{"id":2188238,"date":"2026-10-09T16:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2188238"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:57:48","slug":"tiffany-cromwell-ashleigh-moolman-pasio-call-it-a-career-at-gravel-worlds-after-17-years-in-the-peloton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2188238","title":{"rendered":"Tiffany Cromwell, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio Call It a Career at Gravel Worlds after 17-Years in the Peloton"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two standout racers are set to hang up their wheels this weekend, ending their professional careers at the UCI Gravel Worlds in Nannup, Western Australia.<\/p>\n
Both Tiffany Cromwell and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio are saying goodbye after 17 seasons in the pro peloton.<\/p>\n
They both began with the Lotto Ladies team in 2010, spending two seasons there, before branching out in different directions.<\/p>\n
Their careers will converge one last time at the UCI Gravel Worlds this weekend in what will be an emotional weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to have had a very long cycling career with only one major injury,\u201d Cromwell said recently on social media. \u201cI\u2019ve also been able to experience and be a part of the massive change and growth of women\u2019s cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been many highs and lows and many amazing memories. And I\u2019m happy to be able to finish on my own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The 38-year-old has had a high public profile within the sport, winning the women\u2019s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2013 plus stages of the Giro d\u2019Italia Internazionale Femminile in 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n
More recently she has been dividing her time between road and gravel, winning the European championships in the latter in 2023, and also taking victories in UCI Gravel World Series races including Sea Otter Europe in 2024.<\/p>\n
She won the Unbound Gravel 100 last year.<\/p>\n
\u2018The demands are higher, the level is higher\u2019<\/h2>\nTiffany Cromwell helped teammate Chiara Consonni to victory in the 2025 Tour de Pologne Feminin and this year\u2019s Philadelphia Cycling Classic (Photo: Szymon Gruchalski\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Over the past decade and a half she has seen huge changes in the sport, and will depart with women\u2019s cycling in far better condition than when she started.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to ride this wave of women\u2019s cycling. When we started, it was for the love of it,\u201d the Australian told SBS. \u201cThere was limited support, the money wasn\u2019t there. To have a career, the longevity wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd then seeing the sport grow, seeing events globally pick up, seeing new disciplines like gravel come in and having the opportunity to race that and to follow the wave of gravel as well and the growth\u2026I am very fortunate because I can appreciate where the sport has come from and where it is now, versus those coming into the sport now\u2026 They are in a lot better position but they don\u2019t understand the demands are higher, the level is higher, the stress, everything is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cromwell is the partner of F1 driver Valtteri Bottas, making them a pro athlete power couple of sorts.<\/p>\n
He recently supported her at the Philadelphia Cycling Cassic, handing up bottles as the Canyon SRAM rider helped teammate Chiara Consonni to victory.<\/p>\n
Bottas recorded a chat with Cromwell before that race, asking what her main feeling was as the end of her carer drew closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have to hurt myself any more,\u201d she said, smiling. \u201cExcept for three more times [on gravel].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept when you go riding with me,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you will need to wait for me \u2026 I will need an e-bike,\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n
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Seeing the transformation of the sport<\/h2>\n
Cromwell described the Philly event as a great one to close out the road chapter of her career. \u201cAn iconic race with so much history that was back for the first time in 10 years,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe atmosphere was electric and as an added bonus we managed to take home the victory as a team with @chiara_consonnii.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consonnii is 11 years her junior and is one of those younger riders she said faced an environment with more opportunities than before, but also much greater demands.<\/p>\n
Cromwell takes satisfaction in seeing this evolution take place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been cool to watch,\u201d she told SBS. \u201cIt is great to see that women\u2019s cycling is finally getting to a place it deserves to be and I am sure it is going to grow in the years to come.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI can look back and kind of talk about the old stories of what we used to have to where we are now and having the opportunity to race in races like the Tour de France avec Zwift and big gravel races, world championships, big races around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I hope to enjoy these final race kilometers\u2019<\/h2>\nPictured at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has been one of the best climbers in the sport (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Moolman-Pasio has also competed in the biggest events and while her online exposure is less than that of the media-savvy Cromwell, she had an even bigger career.<\/p>\n
The South African clocked up 49 wins on the road, including a Giro stage in 2021, and was second overall in the race in 2018 and 2021. GC victories include the Tour de Romandie F\u00e9minin and Emakumeen Bira.<\/p>\n
She has been a trailblazer for African sport and will take over as general manager of Team Amani next year. The team is aiming to compete in the 2028 Tour and her experience will be invaluable in moving it towards that goal.<\/p>\n
This weekend, though, her mind is on the worlds.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne more time on the start line as a pro,\u201d she wrote on Friday.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTomorrow is officially my last race as a professional cyclist at the Gravel World Champs in Nannup, Australia. I\u2019d hoped to arrive feeling my best, but unfortunately I\u2019ve come down with a head cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing, especially because I\u2019ve been feeling strong and I really like the course here in Nannup. But the doctor has confirmed it\u2019s not in my chest, so I\u2019ll be starting and seeing what the day brings. I hope to enjoy these final race kilometres and soak it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cromwell, too, will share those sentiments. It\u2019s a very exciting time for both, in terms of future opportunities, but also an emotional one as the final days, hours and minutes of their careers tick down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2197032911.jpg”] Updated October 9, 2026 11:33AM Two standout racers are set to hang up their wheels this weekend, ending their professional careers at the UCI Gravel Worlds in Nannup, Western Australia. Both Tiffany Cromwell and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio are saying goodbye after 17 seasons in the pro peloton. They both began with the Lotto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2188238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2188238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2188238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2188238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2188238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Tiffany](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2230121617.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Pictured](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1411798854.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")