Paula Blasi wins the Vuelta Feminina for her first Grand Tour victory

The home win confirmed Blasi’s status as a rising talent after winning the Amstel Gold race and impressive performances at La Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Blasi, who took up cycling competitively in 2024 after an injury ended his athletics career, was asked by a reporter how he would have reacted if someone had told him earlier that he would win the Vuelta.

“I think you’re kidding,” he said.

The Tour was decided four kilometers from the end on the punishing slope of L’Angliru, when Marion Bunnell attacked and Blasi maintained the pace, van der Breggen falling behind.

One of the toughest climbs in cycling, this is the first time the Asturias Road has featured in the Women’s Vuelta.

“It was crazy,” Blasi said of the climb after his victory. “All I could do was not think about it.

“I knew it would be about 50 minutes and so I said, ‘Just keep going, keep your pace’.

“But I started to see Anna (van der Breggen) struggling and I said ‘let’s go for it’.”

Behind Blasi, 36-year-old van der Breggen finished second, with French Team Visma Liege A bike rider Bunnell, 21, third overall.