{"id":814659,"date":"2026-10-26T18:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814659\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:34:11","slug":"things-werent-made-clear-enough-paula-blasi-says-uae-management-decisions-amongst-several-issues-that-led-to-exit-for-movistar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814659\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Things weren\u2019t made clear enough’ \u2013 Paula Blasi says UAE management decisions amongst several issues that led to exit for Movistar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paula Blasi<\/a> has spoken out about her time at UAE Team L’IMAD, saying that problems with the team management’s decision-making left her frustrated at races and that she “found it a bit hard to find [her] place” in the team following her rapid development.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Spanish racer has recently completed a long-rumoured switch to Movistar<\/a> on a three-year deal, finalising a transfer saga that had run since the summer.<\/p>\n

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Blasi, who won La Vuelta Femenina in May, appeared to head to the start of the Tour de France Femmes as part of a leadership triumvirate before later settling into a super-domestique role for Elisa Longo Borghini, who expressed annoyance and frustration with the way the press had covered the team. The Italian said at the time that the press were “making it up so big, bigger than it is.”<\/a><\/p>\n

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In the end, Longo Borghini raced to a long-awaited podium finish as Blasi took fifth in Nice. But as Blasi told Spanish journalist Laura Alvarez<\/a>, she and her teammates faced challenges caused by UAE’s management style.<\/p>\n

“I joined the UAE project when I was very, very young and when you arrive as a girl who barely knew how to ride a bike, your teammates help you learn almost from scratch, to grow so quickly \u2013 it\u2019s hard for me to believe it, for people to believe it, but sometimes it\u2019s also hard for the team to believe it,” she said.<\/p>\n

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“I found it a bit hard, I think, to find my place. I think it was also evident in the Tour. There\u2019s a lot of potential at UAE, and I really do think the girls are very, very strong, but I think the problem lay more at the top \u2013 perhaps with the team directors and the team management \u2013 who didn\u2019t know how to make the decisions I would have liked, and things weren\u2019t made clear enough.<\/p>\n

“So at the end of the day, it\u2019s only natural that if three, four or five of us can win and nobody sets the pace or leads the way, it\u2019s going to be more of a battle than a team race, isn\u2019t it? So, to be honest, I didn\u2019t really like that.”<\/p>\n

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In August, Blasi said the speculation around the team was taking its toll, saying, “It just became a massive ball of stress.”<\/a> At the end of the Tour, she said the team had come together, with directeur sportif Cherie Pridham telling Cyclingnews that UAE had stuck to their plan throughout the race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Blasi’s switch to Movistar was already in the works by then, having already been the subject of rumours before the Tour. She explained it was right to move on for 2027, stating that management decisions contributed to her decision to leave after a year of racing in which she attributed UAE’s success largely to the riders.<\/p>\n

“I think there were already a lot of things promised within the team; in the contracts, there were already a lot of leadership roles that had been promised. That\u2019s also one of the reasons I didn\u2019t like it very much \u2013 it\u2019s just what I\u2019m saying: I think a leader has to earn their position through their performance<\/a>, not through negotiation,” she said.<\/p>\n

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“I think the luck we\u2019ve had as the UAE team this year is down to the girls. I\u2019m really very grateful for the professionalism, for instance, of Elisa, who, well, I\u2019d say is one of the race leaders, and I think I learnt a great deal from her too.<\/p>\n

“During the Tour, we were really honest with each other, especially Elisa and I, because if in the end we had to decide, to choose one of us. I trusted Elisa more than I trusted myself because it was my first Tour. And I think it was crystal clear, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

“It was a time for everyone, not just for me, and it\u2019s true she was able to put things into perspective, and I\u2019d say she was the one who brought a bit more calm.”<\/p>\n

Movistar move difficulties and linking up with Marlen Reusser<\/p>\n

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\"Marlen\n<\/p>\n

Blasi is looking forward to working with another Tour de France Femmes contender in Marlen Reusser next season (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Movistar<\/a> announced Blasi’s arrival last Wednesday, almost three months into cycling’s transfer season. Given the move has seemed a done deal for even longer, it’s been a long and “complicated” process that has taken its toll, according to Blasi.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a long process that I don’t think any athlete wants to go through. I\u2019d actually made the decision quite a while ago, but there are so many other things that you don\u2019t see from the outside, and people just think, \u2018Oh, they\u2019re not announcing anything\u2019, but it\u2019s not because we don\u2019t want to; it\u2019s just that things have turned out to be more difficult than we thought, and it hasn\u2019t exactly been a walk in the park for us either,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Today I can breathe a sigh of relief; everything\u2019s official, everything\u2019s finalised, everything\u2019s signed, and everything\u2019s been approved by the UCI. So, wow, I\u2019m really excited. I think the most important thing for an athlete is to have that peace of mind that I have right now, and with that, it\u2019s simply the easy part for me: focusing on training, isn\u2019t it? So, well, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what\u2019s next.”<\/p>\n

Blasi can look forward to linking up with Marlen Reusser<\/a> at her new team. The pair look set to be clear GC leaders at the Grand Tours and major stage races next season.<\/p>\n

Reusser, 12 years Blasi’s senior, has already expressed her enthusiasm about teaming up, also noting that she’s edging closer to retirement<\/a> and passing the team leadership baton over for good. There shouldn’t be any friction as Blasi moves to her “home” team, as she called it, then.<\/p>\n

“Being able to ride for a Spanish team \u2013 they\u2019ve thrown the door wide open for me. There\u2019s Marlen, and I\u2019m going to learn a lot from her, but I think I\u2019ll have my own space too. I think sometimes the strength lies in having two clearly defined leaders who understand each other, don\u2019t you think?” she said.<\/p>\n

“I saw things more clearly here at Movistar. It\u2019s a lot of things coming together and, in the end, home calls and if the door can be opened, it opens.<\/p>\n

“I think our age difference perhaps allows me to be a bit more ambitious in terms of the calendar and to want to race more. This year, Marlen has actually asked to race a bit less, so that\u2019s fine by me. I\u2019ll be starting a bit earlier, as early as January. And well, it\u2019ll come as no surprise that I\u2019ll probably be aiming for La Vuelta and she for the Giro. And from there, well, as for the Ardennes.”<\/p>\n

As for leadership at the season’s biggest race \u2013 the Tour de France Femmes \u2013 Blasi also stated that any questions over that will be handled differently at her new team.<\/p>\n

“The Tour is the Tour, and I think the important thing is to see how we both turn out,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If we both arrive in good shape, my aim would be to go for both of us, because I think that\u2019s where we can do the most damage; but obviously, if one of us arrives stronger than the other, I wouldn\u2019t have any problem going for her. She\u2019s already said she wouldn\u2019t have any problem going for me either if that\u2019s the case.”<\/p>\n

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