"I think I made a mistake by competing again so soon after the Tour de France" - Ashleigh Moolman Pasio looks back at her first season with AG Insurance Soudal Quick Step

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, the South African racing for the Belgian team AG Insurance Soudal Quick Step was interviewed by Eurosport during preparation for first women's criterium event in Spain, Reinas de la Alhambra.

"I finished this season very tired. I think I made a mistake by competing again so soon after the Tour de France, I was at the World Championships and then at the Tour of Scandinavia and I think that was too long for me, and I ended up saturated, with a lot of fatigue, so this time it has been very easy to disconnect. I needed it mentally and physically."

What went well in Moolman's season?"I think we started the year with a 'big bang' in the Setmana Valenciana, it was a great race as a team, I think one of the best of my entire career. We were together as a team, we controlled the race, it was impressive, maybe for the books... how we handled the second stage, it was perfect. In the reconnaissance at the training camp we talked about the perfect scenario, and in the race everything turned out as we thought."

And what didn't go as well? "I think the spring classic season has been the hardest for the team. We have many young riders who were riding such races for the first time and it is a challenge in which they have no experience. Those were races in which we worked very well as a team, but we did not achieve the results we expected."