Paula Blasi makes history and wins the Women’s Vuelta a España at the Angliru

First, through the fog, El Chava Jiménez opened the way, winner of the debut back in 1999, followed by Gilberto Simoni (2000), Roberto Heras (2002), Alberto Contador (2008 and 2017), Juanjo Cobo (2011), Kenny Elissonde (2013), Hugh Carthy (2020), Primoz Roglic (2023) and Joao Almeida (2025), but now, after years of waiting and intense debate about the capabilities of the women’s peloton, Swiss Petra Stiasny has inscribed her name in cycling history as the first woman to win on the Angliru.

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However, the spotlight is on the cyclist who crosses the finish line just seconds later. Catalan Paula Blasi, 23 years old with a perennial smile, breaks all the expected molds on the first ascent of women’s cycling to the Asturian pass, one of the most terrible in Europe. She does so, moreover, to seal her victory in the Vuelta a España, something that seemed a chimera just a few months ago, highly unlikely after the spring — victory in Amstel Gold Race, podium in Flecha Valona and fifth in Liège, her first Monument — and even daring just a few hours ago, when, after overcoming the demanding ramps of Les Praeres, the penultimate stage of the race, Dutch Anna van der Breggen led her by 18 seconds.

“Win the Vuelta? No way, man, this year would be crazy! Practically impossible, really,” Blasi told this newspaper hours before starting the Spanish tour. “My goal is, someday, to be a cyclist who can aspire to a Vuelta or a Tour de France. But I think I still have a long way to go for that,” added, innocently, someone who until a year ago was not even professional, and who now, in her debut, has just become the first Spanish woman to win the women’s Vuelta.

It is not raining on the Angliru. Nor is it needed, think all the cyclists who twist and turn trying to defeat the colossus. The ruthless battle, however, begins hours earlier. Still under the dark night, the SD Worx and UAE team buses are steaming. Time is pressing to find the best gearing for the respective leaders, Van der Breggen and Blasi. The Dutchwoman, who flew this Friday on Les Praeres with a rear cog paella, mounts a 46-tooth single chainring, with a 52-tooth cog and a mountain bike transmission. Blasi, more limited, has to settle for a 34-tooth chainring and a 36-tooth sprocket.

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Nothing matters more than the gearing, a disturbing mathematical formula in the hands of the mechanics, to face the final monster of the Vuelta. Five kilometers from the finish, still with the hardest ahead, Van der Breggen lowers her head to talk to the SD Worx car by radio. Something is not right. It is confirmed just 500 meters later, when French Marion Bunel, third overall, stirs the hornet’s nest and the veteran Dutch leader of the race does not respond. Blasi also does not reply at first, who, pure diesel and stubborn by birth, soon boils over to surpass the French cyclist, younger and lighter than her, and seek the summit with bloodshot eyes.

The young Catalan does not stop the ordeal, pure concentration, until the last meters of the stage, already with favorable terrain after the relentless torture. Then she breaks down crying, hands to a still uncovered face, pure, childish disbelief, and Van der Breggen pants half a minute behind. Blasi knows she is the winner of the Vuelta a España. Her first grand tour as a professional cyclist. Behind, Usoa Ostolaza reaches the summit eighth, 1m41s behind the winner Stiasny. It serves the Zarauztarra of Laboral-Kutxa to finish fourth overall in the Vuelta — 1m42s from the podium — her best result in a grand tour. Spanish cycling has reasons to smile.

“I really want the Angliru,” Blasi warned EL PAÍS last week. “Since the Tour de l’Avenir two seasons ago, when we climbed the Colle delle Finestre, we haven’t done a climb like this, and the truth is it’s sad, because the women’s peloton deserves much more. We want harder, more demanding climbs. We are professional cyclists and if we are not given the opportunity to prove it, what is the point of all this? It’s a shame when you compare the toughness of the men’s grand tours with ours. We want more.”

For now, her team must recalculate the route. Blasi has been included since January in the UAE pre-list for the Tour de France (from August 1 to 9), but not as one of the starters. And, as happens with Paul Seixas in the men’s peloton, the elephant has become too big in the room. “I would like to race the Tour, I would love to, but first I have to talk to the team,” the Catalan told this newspaper, whose initial plans after the Vuelta were to race Durango, the Spanish championships, the Tour of Britain, the Tour of Poland and the World Championships in Canada. “Now, we have some absences in the team, so there will be spots in the Tour, I know,” she concluded, with a mischievous smile. “We will have to meet and see what happens, but if you ask me what I would like to do, it’s obvious: race the Tour de France.”

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