Tour de France Femmes: Paula Blasi’s surprise white jersey keeps UAE leadership debate alive

Paula Blasi looks set to remain one of the major talking points throughout this Tour de France Femmes. The Spaniard, who won the Vuelta Femenina earlier this season, is expected to leave UAE Team ADQ at the end of the year — reportedly for Movistar — and does not appear to have complete freedom to pursue her own ambitions as a result. Nevertheless, she claimed the white jersey on the opening day, earning her a call-up for an official post-stage interview.

Before the race, Blasi — who also won the Amstel Gold Race and has developed at remarkable speed — had already confirmed that she would not target the general classification. Team management instead identified Dominika Wlodarczyk and Elisa Longo Borghini as the squad’s protected leaders.

Longo Borghini finished sixth on the opening stage, while Blasi crossed the line in 12th place, eight seconds behind her teammate, and took possession of the white jersey. Wlodarczyk was involved in a late crash and immediately lost 37 valuable seconds to the other general-classification contenders.

“This white jersey wasn’t a goal at all today. The team strategy was to deliver Elisa [Longo Borghini] and Domi [Wlodarczyk] safely to the finish line, yet things got a bit hectic and there were some misunderstandings,” Blasi said, sounding almost apologetic about the unexpected result.

“We didn’t realize Domi had crashed and, when I did, I thought she was safe because she had crashed inside the final three kilometres… but the three-kilometre rule doesn’t apply today!”

“As for myself, I was not in the best position coming into the final climb. I was not thinking of the white jersey, but rather frustrated about my positioning,” the Spaniard explained. “I didn’t realize I was in the white jersey until they told me to come to the podium when I was already cooling down. On a personal level, this is a small reward. It’s always beautiful to stand on the podium and wear a distinctive jersey.”

What happens next? “I need to wait for the team’s instructions before knowing whether we will defend this white jersey. The Yellow Jersey is our biggest goal in this race, so we will sacrifice the white if it’s necessary. It’s not a priority for the team,” concluded Blasi, whose position within UAE and expected departure have already generated considerable attention in the Spanish media.