Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio continued her return to form with another podium, this time in the Boels Rental Hills Classic. The result follows the South African winning last weekend’s Berner Rundfahrt and finishing fifth in SwissEver GP Cham – Hagendorn while supporting Lotta Lepistö to victory.

The hilly race eventually came down to five riders who slipped away at the 108km mark, the first time up the Cauberg. Moolman-Pasio was present in the group, along with Elizabeth Armitstead, Ellen van Dijk (both Boels-Dolmans), Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-AIS) and Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv).

Moolman-Pasio put the pressure on as the group hit the bottom of the Cauberg for the final time which saw everyone except van Vleuten losing contact. The World champion, Armitstead showed great tenacity to regain contact at the top of the climb and eventually sprinted to victory ahead of van Vleuten who was second and Moolman-Pasio third.

“It’s nice to be back on the podium. It was a super hard race,” Moolman-Pasio said. “The team rode exceptionally well together. We might not be the biggest team but we definitely have the biggest hearts. The girls did an incredible job, they all believed in me 100%.”

She continued: “We showed presence from the word go, always in front, always controlling. I gave it everything up the last Cauberg. Annemiek and I got away. Lizzie was dropped and maybe we should have pushed a little harder but in the end, I am happy with third. I am gaining my confidence again. It was lacking a bit after the hard Spring that I’ve had. I’m really happy with how the form is building and just looking forward rom going from strength to strength.”