Paula Blasi continued her standout month with victory at the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria in Spain.
The 23-year-old, riding with the UAE Development Team, attacked late on the final climb and held her advantage to win the 113-kilometre one-day race in Durango.
It came 10 days after Blasi won La Vuelta Femenina, her first Grand Tour title, for UAE Team ADQ. That result had already marked her out as one of the form riders in the women’s peloton. This win backed it up.
Blasi was supported by a young UAE Development Team line-up that included Alena Ivanchenko, Safiya Alsayegh, Celia Torres, Giada Silo and Magdalena Leis.
The team worked through the middle section of the race and helped bring back an early three-rider breakaway. Fariba Hashimi, Eva Anguela and Leyre Almena had built a lead of more than four minutes, but the gap came down as the race reached the closing climbs.
The decisive section came in the final part of the route, with three categorised climbs shaping the race. Once the breakaway was caught, the main contenders moved to the front.
Blasi was part of the lead group on the final climb alongside world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, Évita Muzic, Lauren Dickson, Riejanne Markus and Alice Towers. Ema Comte was chasing behind.
The race changed after the final summit when Vallieres crashed on a downhill corner while leading the front group. Dickson and Markus were held up by the incident, but Blasi avoided the fall and stayed clear with Muzic and Towers.
With around 8.5 kilometres remaining, Blasi made her move on a steep section near the top of the climb. Muzic and Towers could not follow, and the Spanish rider opened enough of a gap to ride solo into Durango.
Muzic finished second for FDJ United-SUEZ, with Towers third for EF Education-Oatly.
It was another strong result in a season where Blasi has moved quickly from promise to proven winner. Her La Vuelta success came on the Angliru, one of the hardest climbs in the sport. Durango-Durango showed she can carry that form into one-day racing as well.
