S13 Ep152: This Time for Africa

Nov 27, 2025

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, a professional cyclist and mentor for Team Amani, discusses the exciting rise of African cycling. She shares her personal experiences as a rider and highlights the cultural barriers females face in the sport. Mentorship plans for Team Amani, aimed at empowering African female cyclists, take center stage. The team aspires to compete in the Tour de France Femmes by 2028, showcasing their vision for a fully African roster and development efforts to grow grassroots cycling across the continent.

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INSIGHT

Talent Spread Fueled Unpredictable Racing

The 2025 season showed that spreading top talent across many teams increased unpredictability and excitement.
Diverse team targets let unexpected riders like Pauline Ferrand-Prévot seize big races.

INSIGHT

Stated Ambition Backed By Results

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot backed bold public targets with performance and won the Tour de France Femmes.
Visible ambition plus team trust let her prioritise and deliver on major goals.

INSIGHT

Role Change Created A New GC Contender

Marlen Reusser emerged as a genuine GC threat after a transfer that gave her freedom to lead.
Team trust and clear role changes created new Grand Tour contenders.

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Oi you, loser! Or should that be winner? Yes on this month’s episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin, we discuss our picks for the winners and losers of the season. Our very own losers Rose Manley, Denny Gray and Rebecca Charlton pick out a few notable performances – both for good and bad reasons – from a season that threw up a number of surprises. We ask who faired best and worst from the big transfer shake up which saw many big name riders find new teams and responsibilities.

For our mini feature this month we look at the rise of African cycling in light of Team Amani’s announcement that they will become the first ever Africa-based Women’s Continental team. We hear about the challenges facing African riders from visa complications to community stigma and find out about Team Amani’s ambitions to make it to the Tour de France Femmes by 2028. Listen in to hear from team mentor Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, partnerships director Xylon Van Eyck and Team Amani star rider Xaverine Nirere who lit up the World Championships time trial in Rwanda this year.

We also take a look at next year’s Tour de France Femmes course which covers nine stages from Switzerland to Nice.

Also on the agenda: Anna Van der Breggen plays the piano, Denny embraces his inner beatnik poet and a wet ffff… firework.

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