"I wasn’t even supposed to be here” - Paula Blasi flabbergasted with surprise Amstel Gold Race Ladies victory
Cycling
Paula Blasi’s victory at the 2026 Amstel Gold Race Ladies stunned the international peloton—and the winner herself. The UAE Team ADQ rider delivered a standout performance, sealed with a solo attack that left favourites like Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney and Demi Vollering with no reply.
Yet beyond the result, her words after the race conveyed bewilderment, emotion, and an uncommon honesty. Far from immediate euphoria, Blasi admitted at the finish that she still hadn’t grasped what she had achieved: “No, I think I’ll need a couple of weeks or even months to take it in,” she began, after securing the biggest win of her life. A confession that captures the scale of a triumph as unexpected as it was brilliant.
The finale was as unpredictable as the race itself. The rider described the confusion of the closing kilometers: “Honestly, when I was alone and crossed the finish line, I didn’t even know how many kilometres I had left. So I thought ‘I hope I only have five to go.’ Then suddenly they told me ‘no, you need to hold it for 21.’”
Blasi stayed resolute despite the demands of a long solo, sustaining her attack strongly despite the strong work back in the peloton, which was often led by FDJ - Suez and SD Worx - ProTime. “I knew it was going to be a hard day out front.”
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From dropped to race leader
One of the most striking aspects of her win is that, minutes before the decisive move, she had lost contact with the main group: “In fact, five minutes before I made the move, I’d been dropped. So I came back and said ‘okay, let’s try, let’s see if I can help the team.’”
That shift in mindset proved crucial on a relentless day: “And suddenly I found myself in front. Yes, because at that point it was a really hard race. And how did I do it? I don’t even know.”
“The peloton is crazy”
Blasi also underlined the tactical difficulty of the race, especially on terrain that was still new to her: “From the start I ride for the team. So I told the team I was really struggling to hold position because it’s my first race here in the Ardennes.”
The Spaniard clearly described the chaos in the bunch: “This peloton is crazy. It’s pretty hard to stay at the front. And, in fact, that’s the most important part.” Faced with that, she found an almost improvised solution in the break: “At one point I said ‘let’s go to the front if you can go better in the break, because then you don’t have to fight for position.’”
Paula Blasi wins the Amstel Gold Race Ladies 2026.
A victory that wasn’t even in the plans
Perhaps the most revealing detail came when she recalled that her start was a late call-up: “To be honest, I don’t even know right now, because I wasn’t even supposed to be here. I was registered for the race just yesterday because we had some injuries and a few riders ill.”
With humility, Blasi closed with a candid reflection: “I need to take a deep breath and accept what just happened.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Hmmm, you seem to have a very convenient black and white view of things. Perhaps you haven’t been around much to discover how complex problems can become over time with people who know how to control, manipulate (or worse) others so gradually or subtly that you arrive at an irresolvable situation before you realise. This is how many inconveniences get introduced to the young, naïve, passionate or “desperate”, knowing they are not armed, protected or strong enough to defend themselves once it’s too late. Why do you think omerta culture is so widespread, why do you think so many people continue to go through so many awful things in life that others can’t understand anyone getting into? Life may be far more jolly for you but you would do well to understand (or reflect more on) the real world to refrain from being so quick to criticise those in a hard spot that may have genuine reason for speaking out.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Seriously do you think when somebody gets into a serious accident, the ambulance is called by the hurt person?🤦 there is always a buddy system in place for a risky job. police , firefighters etc so that if someone gets hurt, the other call that in.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
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