Paula Blasi’s role at UAE Team ADQ takes bizarre turn at Tour de France Femmes

We predicted after the opening stage that Paula Blasi could become one of the biggest talking points of this Tour de France Femmes, and the Spanish climber has certainly lived up to that prediction after two days. One of the sensations of the 2026 season is being used exclusively as a domestique by UAE Team ADQ at the Tour, as stage 2 demonstrated once again. Finding a convincing explanation for the situation is proving increasingly difficult.

The smile has rarely disappeared from Blasi’s face, although the winner of the Amstel Gold Race and Vuelta Femenina appears fully aware of the unusual position in which she finds herself. As one of the new stars of women’s cycling, many expected her to start the Tour de France Femmes as a UAE leader. Before the race, however, she revealed that that wouldn’t be the case.

“I’m not a team leader. We are fully committed to the team’s ambitions,” was Blasi’s diplomatic response. She repeated those words when she unexpectedly found herself wearing the white young rider’s jersey after stage 1. “This white jersey wasn’t a goal at all today. The team strategy was to deliver Elisa and Domi safely to the finish line.”

Elisa Longo Borghini and Dominika Włodarczyk are the team’s designated leaders at this Tour, while Maeva Squiban — who won two stages last year — has been given freedom to pursue opportunities. Blasi, meanwhile, is expected to work for her teammates. Even that plan went wrong on the opening day when Włodarczyk lost time following a crash. “We didn’t realise Domi had crashed,” Blasi explained afterwards.

Blasi’s smile may be infectious, but cycling journalist Lizzy Banks believes it could also be masking her frustration. Banks claimed on X after the opening stage that she had heard Blasi say, “I’m riding alone,” near the UAE team bus. The Spaniard reportedly did not look happy, perhaps conscious that the team is no longer building around her now that she is expected to join Movistar for the 2027 season.

“It’s nice to ride in white and incredibly cool to be here,” Blasi said after stage 2. During the stage, however, Thijs Zonneveld saw her working at the front during a flat race that appeared better suited to teammate Silvia Persico. “It is completely unnecessary. Blasi does not need to be riding in the wind there,” fellow analyst Jip van den Bos said on the La Koers podcast. After the finish, Zonneveld also noticed that no bicycle had been left beside the team bus for Blasi to use for her cooldown.

A conversation with UAE Team ADQ sports director Cherie Pridham provided little further clarity. Asked why Blasi was being used as a domestique at this Tour, Pridham referred only to maintaining “a safe position in the peloton,” the rider’s “motivation” and the team’s collective objectives. When asked whether the situation was related to Blasi’s reported transfer to Movistar, Pridham replied: “No, not at all. Nothing has been confirmed yet. Paula is riding well, and that is all I can ask of her.”

The conversation did confirm to Zonneveld that Blasi had been instructed to ride on the front even during the flat finale of stage 2. Winning the Tour is not an objective for her, nor is winning a stage or defending the white jersey. She appears to be receiving almost no support from the team for her own ambitions. When the analysts raised the possibility that Blasi was effectively being pushed aside during the race, their response was unanimous: “Why bring her to the Tour at all?”