Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) took control of the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées with a storming solo victory on stage 2 on Saturday.
The Spanish sensation, who has won the Amstel Gold Race and the Vuelta Femenina in a breakthrough 2026 season, continued her rise with an untouchable climbing performance over the mighty Col du Tourmalet.
Blasi attacked more than 10km from the summit of the Tour de France’s most-used mountain, before swooping down into Bagnères-de-Bigorre, where she celebrated almost two minutes before anyone else crossed the line.
It turned out to be a UAE Team ADQ 1-2, as Dominika Wlodarczyk led home the five-woman chase group, ahead of Emily Dixon (Canyon-SRAM), Ema Comte (Cofidis), Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-SUEZ), and Clémence Latimier (Ma Petite Entreprise).
The second of the three stages measured just under 100km and was all about the Tourmalet, both the ascent – 18.9km at an average gradient of 7.4% – and the long descent of nearly 30km to the finish.
Blasi wasn’t hanging around and, after the bunch exploded on the lower slopes of the climb, she took flight with over 10km to the top and soloed her way up with a look of complete control.
She continued to gain time on the fragmented field in her wake all the way to the top, and all the way down to the bottom. She reached the summit with 1:42 in hand and crossed the line 1:59 clear.
With no time bonuses on offer, Blasi leads the general classification by 1:59 over Wlodarczyk, Dixon, Comte, Berthet, and Latimier.
The next quartet to finish rounds out the top 10, some 3:46 behind Blasi: Quinty Schoens (Volker-Wessels), Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), Yuliia Biriukova (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), and Eisen Malou (Volker-Wessels).
The Tour Féminin des Pyrénées concludes on Sunday with a day of punchy climbs rather than big mountains, so Blasi’s commanding lead looks set to be a race-winning one, barring any exceptional drama.
Results
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