Paula Blasi has spoken out about her time at UAE Team L'IMAD, saying that problems with the team management's decision-making left her frustrated at races and that she "found it a bit hard to find [her] place" in the team following her rapid development.
The 23-year-old Spanish racer has recently completed a long-rumoured switch to Movistar on a three-year deal, finalising a transfer saga that had run since the summer.
Blasi, who won La Vuelta Femenina in May, appeared to head to the start of the Tour de France Femmes as part of a leadership triumvirate before later settling into a super-domestique role for Elisa Longo Borghini, who expressed annoyance and frustration with the way the press had covered the team. The Italian said at the time that the press were "making it up so big, bigger than it is."
In the end, Longo Borghini raced to a long-awaited podium finish as Blasi took fifth in Nice. But as Blasi told Spanish journalist Laura Alvarez, she and her teammates faced challenges caused by UAE's management style, while also noting that reports of any tension among the riders was overblown.
"I joined the UAE project when I was very, very young and when you arrive as a girl who barely knew how to ride a bike, your teammates help you learn almost from scratch, to grow so quickly – it’s hard for me to believe it, for people to believe it, but sometimes it’s also hard for the team to believe it," she said.
"I found it a bit hard, I think, to find my place. I think it was also evident in the Tour. There’s a lot of potential at UAE, and I really do think the girls are very, very strong, but I think the problem lay more at the top – perhaps with the team directors and the team management – who didn’t know how to make the decisions I would have liked, and things weren’t made quite clear enough.
"So at the end of the day, it’s only natural that if three, four or five of us can win and nobody sets the pace or leads the way, it’s going to be more of a battle than a team race, isn’t it? So, to be honest, I didn’t really like that.
"I think the luck we’ve had as the UAE team this year is down to the girls. I’m really very grateful for the professionalism, for instance, of Elisa, who, well, I’d say is one of the race leaders, and I think I learnt a great deal from her too.
"During the Tour, we were really honest with each other, especially Elisa and I, because if in the end we had to decide, to choose one of us. I trusted Elisa more than I trusted myself because it was my first Tour. And I think it was crystal clear, wasn’t it?"
In August, Blasi said the speculation around the team was taking its toll, saying, "It just became a massive ball of stress." At the end of the Tour, she said the team had come together, with directeur sportif Cherie Pridham telling Cyclingnews that UAE had stuck to their plan throughout the race.
But Blasi's switch to Movistar was already in the works by then, having already been the subject of rumours before the Tour. She explained it was right to move on for 2027, explaining that several things contributed to her decision, including those management decisions.
"I think there were already a lot of things promised within the team; in the contracts, there were already a lot of leadership roles that had been promised," she said.
"That’s also one of the reasons I didn’t like it very much – it’s just what I’m saying: I think a leader has to earn their position through their performance, not through negotiation."
Movistar move 'a long process that I don't think any athlete wants to go through'
Movistar announced Blasi's arrival last Wednesday, almost three months into cycling's transfer season. Given the move has seemed a done deal for even longer, it's been a long and "complicated" process that has taken its toll, according to Blasi.
"It's been a long process that I don't think any athlete wants to go through. I’d actually made the decision quite a while ago, but there are so many other things that you don’t see from the outside, and people just think, ‘Gosh, they’re not announcing anything’, but it’s not because we don’t want to; it’s just that things have turned out to be more difficult than we thought, and it hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for us either," she said.
"I try to stay on the sidelines – apart from the meetings, decisions and even negotiations, I try not to get too involved – but, whether you like it or not, the information reaches you, doesn’t it? And you… start wondering: ‘Oh, how’s it going? And why are all the signings announced by September at the latest, yet I haven’t been told anything?’
"In the end, you do have all that rumourmongering going round in your head, especially when – well, you start to realise that ‘No, it’s just that they won’t let you go; no, they’re making it really difficult for you’. So you say: ‘Well, then… well, what do I do?’ Because ultimately, it’s a huge sense of powerlessness, isn’t it? It’s more like, ‘We have to wait and see what the UCI says, or whatever…’
"Today I can breathe a sigh of relief; everything’s official, everything’s finalised, everything’s signed, and everything’s been approved by the UCI. So, wow, I’m really excited. I think the most important thing for an athlete is to have that peace of mind that I have right now, and with that, it’s simply the easy part for me: focusing on training, isn’t it? So, well, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next."
Blasi can look forward to linking up with Marlen Reusser at her new team. The pair look set to be clear GC leaders at the Grand Tours and major stage races next season.
Reusser, 12 years Blasi's senior, has already expressed her enthusiasm about teaming up, also noting that she's edging closer to retirement and passing the team leadership baton over for good. There shouldn't be any friction as Blasi moves to her "home team", as she called it, then.
"Racing for a Spanish team is something very special. Movistar have thrown the door wide open for me, and I'm very grateful for that," she said.
"I'm definitely going to have my place here. Marlen Reusser is here, and I'm going to learn a great deal from her, although I think I'll have my own space. We've talked about how to share responsibilities and how to work together, and I think having two leaders can be a strength if we understand each other.
"We can work together very well and complement each other. You hear a lot about Movistar, but being at home is a real draw, and if the door can be opened, it will be."
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