Catalan cyclist Paula Blasi (UAE), European champion and third in the world U23, achieved the greatest success of her young professional career this Sunday by winning the women’s Amstel Gold Race, held between Maastricht and Valkenburg over a course of 158.1 kilometers. She is the first Spanish woman to win the Dutch classic.
Born in Esplugues de Llobregat and 23 years old, Blasi won one of the most prestigious races on the calendar, the one that opens the Ardennes Triptych, with a long-range attack that left the main favorites of the international peloton without a response.
The Catalan rider launched her decisive offensive on the Cauberg, more than 20 kilometers from the finish line, and maintained the initiative until the end. Without faltering at any moment and oblivious to the pressure of the chasing group, she also resisted a course error and the appearance of rain to cross the finish line with a time of 4h02:14. Blasi was 27 seconds ahead of Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon) and the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering (FDJ), two of the most prominent cyclists in the current peloton.
“I don’t know what to think. I wasn’t even planning to race today. I have to process what happened because I can’t believe it. They told me to attack, I attacked, and I’m living a dream,” explained the winner after the race.
The race began with a breakaway featuring Belgium’s Nijssen, a former middle-distance athlete and Belgian champion, along with the Netherlands’ Steigenga and the USA’s Franz. The attempt was neutralized at the first pass through the finish line, 73 kilometers from the end. From there, the circuit concentrated the main difficulties of the course, with the Geulhemmerberg (900 meters at 6.3%), the Bemelerberg (900 meters at 4.8%), and the decisive Cauberg (900 meters at 7%), whose summit is located 1.7 kilometers from the finish.
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The main favorites began to move 35 kilometers from the finish, when Van der Breggen, Vollering, and Niewiadoma broke up the group with an attack from the former. The marking between the strongest riders was constant and limited the options for clear moves, although it did not prevent several solo attempts.
At 26 kilometers from the finish, it was Paula Blasi’s turn. First, she rode away accompanied by the Dutch rider Nienke Vinke and, shortly after, launched her definitive solo attack 22 kilometers from the finish. Her firm and sustained offensive opened up gaps due to the lack of reaction from the chasing group.
At 15 kilometers from the finish, Blasi had a 15-second lead over Vinke and 42 seconds over the group of favorites. The advantage was maintained on the last pass over the Cauberg, which she crested with a 37-second lead over Vollering and Niewiadoma, before tackling the final kilometers in the rain.
Already on the home straight, the Catalan cyclist celebrated a victory that marks a turning point in her professional career. At the finish line, she embraced Mavi García, in an image that symbolized the generational handover within Spanish women’s cycling.
