UAE sensation Paula Blasi reveals she will not lead team at Tour de France Femmes

Paula Blasi has revealed that she is not one of UAE Team ADQ’s two designated leaders for the Tour de France Femmes. The 23-year-old climber has undoubtedly been the breakout star of the 2026 season, but at the women’s Tour de France she is, in principle, expected to work for others first. The idea is for Blasi to gain experience before returning in the future with ambitions of winning the Tour overall.

Blasi made her remarks to journalist Thijs Zonneveld during the Tour de France Femmes on behalf of La Koers the women’s cycling counterpart to In De Waaier. During the wide-ranging conversation, Blasi first discussed her physical condition after crashing heavily on a gravel section during a training ride ahead of the Spanish national championships in late June.

Blasi required several hours of hospital treatment and stitches for multiple injuries, but she was in good spirits on Friday. “I’m here, so I’m doing well,” she said with a smile. “It was a pretty big crash, and I needed treatment from the physio for quite a long time afterwards. But I’ve been pain-free for the past three weeks, so I’m really looking forward to the race.”

Until her crash in June, Blasi’s season had been nothing short of extraordinary. After already making an impression in 2025, her first year with the WorldTour squad following her promotion from the development team, she became a major name in women’s cycling this year. Her spring victory in the Amstel Gold Race stood out in particular, while she also finished third at both the Tour Down Under and La Flèche Wallonne.

She continued her remarkable run in May by winning the Vuelta a España overall, before also adding victories at Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, the CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and the Tour of Catalonia. Without the training crash, she would undoubtedly have been considered one of the leading favourites for the Tour de France Femmes, despite this being her debut appearance in the race.

Following a less-than-ideal build-up, however, Blasi preferred to keep expectations under control. “Of course, I dream of winning the Tour, but I’m not saying when,” she explained. “I hope I can win it one day, but perhaps not this year. People say your first Tour de France is always about gaining experience and that there is a lot you need to learn. We have a strong team and the plans are clear, with two very strong leaders.”

Blasi is not one of those two leaders, with UAE Team ADQ instead backing Elisa Longo Borghini and Maeva Squiban. Squiban won two Tour de France Femmes stages from breakaways last year, while Longo Borghini has won the Giro d’Italia Women twice during her career. However, the Italian was forced to abandon each of her previous two Tour appearances. “I’m not a team leader,” Blasi confirmed. “We are fully committed to the team’s ambitions.”

Blasi does not appear overly concerned about having to operate from the shadows for the time being. “It’s always nice to work for other riders, even though, as a rider, you always have ambitions to win yourself,” she said. “Ultimately, you have to show that you can work for others so that they will do the same for you later. This is how things are right now. It wasn’t easy to hear, but I believe in the team’s plan.”

“We haven’t discussed trying to win a stage from the breakaway yet,” Blasi continued. “That could also be difficult for me because the other teams probably won’t allow me to get away. But it would be nice if I could make other riders suffer while trying to follow my wheel. Does the decision have anything to do with me leaving after this season? No, I don’t think so. I simply do what the team asks me to do.”