Paula Blasi showcased her fierce racing spirit on the brutally steep but short climb to Les Praeres in Asturias, where the rain, cold, and excitement greeted the new phenomenon of world cycling at just 23 years old. With her future wide open, she is now set to duel on Saturday against Dutch veteran Anna van der Breggen—36 years of experience versus the Catalan’s youth—for the overall win of the Vuelta. Only one stage remains, but it’s the sheer tyranny of the Angliru, and that’s no small feat.
Blasi fought van der Breggen for the stage victory, conceding only eight seconds, which pushed her into second place overall. She battled against the world and against a bike that wasn’t climbing as she wanted on ramps reaching gradients of 27%, hampered by a missing sprocket—despite the wide range of gears now available, including gravel setups, such inhuman slopes still catch riders off guard.
“I had been warned, but I didn’t expect these ramps. I lacked cadence and got stuck, but I’ve drawn all the motivation for the Angliru. I’ll be in the fight,” an exhausted Blasi told Eurosport, frustrated at not having the ideal gear but convinced since the start of the Les Praeres climb that at least the Vuelta podium is hers—if not more. If victory eludes her and van der Breggen wins, let the Dutch rider have the triumph, while Blasi has already confirmed what was clear since she won the Amstel Gold Race: she is a cycling superstar. Contrary to the famous Aitana song, it’s easy to fall in love with a superstar because of her pedaling.
**Bike Stuck**
Blasi crashed at the start of the stage. But falling off and getting back on only made her stronger. Training in Llívia, where she lives when not competing, helped her adapt to the cold, the Asturian rain, and even snow if it came. It allowed her to break away with van der Breggen and young French rider Marion Bunel, while other contenders—mainly Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma and French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, both Tour winners—got lost on the slopes of Les Praeres.
She struggled as her bike stuck, which translated into a few meters’ advantage for van der Breggen. Her wheel likely slipped on impossible ramps, but equally certain is that with proper gearing, the script of the penultimate stage of the Vuelta would have been different.
Heading into the Angliru, Blasi will have her bike’s “soles” well lined—meaning the correct sprocket—and she’ll arrive with two key concepts for dreaming: morale soaring above the Asturian summit and just 18 seconds behind in the general classification (the eight from today plus 10 from time bonuses).
**Experience**
Winning won’t be easy because van der Breggen is experienced—the rider who hung up her bike, became a sports director for three seasons, and then felt the cycling soul still burning and returned. Now she’s fighting for the Vuelta, veteran versus youth, though Blasi knows her teammate Mavi García, at 42 years old, will give a final effort to position her best when the hell of the Angliru begins—the first time the Asturian summit witnesses a women’s cycling battle.
Blasi already knows she can make history in a Vuelta born just four years ago, where no local rider has ever been poised to step onto the podium or fight for the final win. Hopefully, she won’t choose the wrong gear ratio, and above all, may her legs respond on a climb as demanding as the Angliru.
