Ashley Moolman Pasio has announced her retirement at the end of the 2022 season, ending her 13-year professional career.

The South African native, who turned 36 in December, made the announcement during the SD Worx team presentation on Wednesday afternoon.

"For me, finding the right time to retire was obviously a little difficult. Because the reality is that I am the oldest rider on the team and although I am getting older, I am still very young in cycling. I'm the oldest rider on the team, and although I'm getting older, the reality is that I'm still very young in cycling," said Mourman Pacio.

"So it is quite difficult to stop cycling when you still have a chance to progress. But I think I've had a great journey as a cyclist. I've grown a lot as a person and now I feel like it's time to take the next step to see more of the business side."

In addition to racing professionally, Mourman Pacio has also run a hotel and bicycle rental business, Roca Corba Cycling, in Girona with her husband, Carl. It will be her focus after she gets off the bike, along with a focus on e-sports.

She is now the reigning world champion in the discipline and also founded the Roca Corba Collective, a space for women who participate and compete in eSports. She says she wants to give back to female riders, especially those from South Africa who are far from the European professional scene.

"I have a cycling tourism business on the side, and I'm getting more and more involved in e-sports to start giving back. [As a South African, I am in Europe, far away from my home country. It's very difficult for South Africans to come to Europe for a lot of reasons. [So now is the time in my life where I want to give back. For me, eSports is a way to do that at the moment."

Mourman-Pasio said her main goal in her final season is to win a Women's World Tour race. She also won stage 9 of last year's Giro Rosa, but that race is not included in the Women's World Tour.

"I hope to get that elusive World Tour win and have a great year with the team," she said.

"Just enjoy riding and watching the young talent develop. I really enjoy watching young talent develop. Being able to play a motivational role within the team is part of cycling and my motivation.

"So I look forward to riding with my teammates and winning more races together. Whether it's me or another teammate, either way it will be great."

Mourman-Pasio will make his 2022 season debut at the Strade Bianche Donnay in early March, followed by the spring classics and the first Tour de France Femme in July.