{"id":256712,"date":"2026-08-08T03:17:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/it-just-became-a-massive-ball-of-stress-paula-blasi-and-uae-team-limad-united-on-mont-ventoux-after-challenging-week-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:17:31","slug":"it-just-became-a-massive-ball-of-stress-paula-blasi-and-uae-team-limad-united-on-mont-ventoux-after-challenging-week-at-tour-de-france-femmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/it-just-became-a-massive-ball-of-stress-paula-blasi-and-uae-team-limad-united-on-mont-ventoux-after-challenging-week-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;It just became a massive ball of stress&#8217; \u2013 Paula Blasi and UAE Team L&#8217;IMAD united on Mont Ventoux after challenging week at Tour de France Femmes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-ebfd3672-92ab-11f1-9098-d3aa6af55c3f\">UAE Team L&#8217;IMAD began the 2026 <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tour de France Femmes<\/a> with a seemingly unclear leadership strategy and a host of riders appearing ready to assume the mantle.<\/p>\n<p>A week on, as the race reached Mont Ventoux, the hierarchy couldn&#8217;t be clearer, and with their embarrassment of riches resulting in three riders among the GC top eight, things are going swimmingly for the team.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"ecom-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-ebfd3672-92ab-11f1-9098-d3aa6af55c3f-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The team has not yet hit the heights of last summer, when, down to four riders and with leader <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/elisa-longo-borghini\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/elisa-longo-borghini\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/elisa-longo-borghini\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elisa Longo Borghini<\/a> out of the race, they took home three stage wins as Dominika W\u0142odarczyk shone with fourth overall. Still, the Polish champion now lies eighth after Friday&#8217;s seventh stage to Ventoux, while her teammates, Longo Borghini \u2013 third on the day \u2013 and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/paula-blasi\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/paula-blasi\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/paula-blasi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paula Blasi<\/a>, are in fourth and seventh.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand\">Cyclingnews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,&#8221; Blasi said after racing to fifth at the top of Ventoux, after she and Longo Borghini had led a charging chase group behind attackers Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), and Marlen Reusser (Movistar).<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I think these first few days I&#8217;ve really struggled with my position, and I really lost a lot of self-confidence. I think today it wasn&#8217;t the best day, but I think we&#8217;ve managed to pull through.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve fought hard, and in the end, we&#8217;ve seen that we&#8217;re always right up there on the big mountains.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The run-up to the Tour de France Femmes brought with it rumours that UAE would head to France with two-time Giro d&#8217;Italia winner Longo Borghini and La Vuelta Femenina champion Blasi as co-leaders.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-oNwi3nAPCkXd8qrnfS2Nzj\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-oNwi3nAPCkXd8qrnfS2Nzj slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Blasi, apparently bound for Movistar next year in another wrinkle to the tale, then said she would ride as a domestique, while their teammate <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brodie Chapman later told <em>Cyclingnews<\/em><\/a> that Longo Borghini and W\u0142odarczyk would lead the squad.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The team denied any reports of tension, as did Longo Borghini, while Blasi, speaking to <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/were-all-really-united-after-much-speculation-uae-team-limad-confirm-dual-leadership-strategy-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\"><em>TV3 Catalunya<\/em><\/a> on Ventoux, described the toll the reports have taken on her. She was visited by her coach and brother ahead of the stage, the pair helping her race on after what has been a challenging week.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;Mentally, it might not have been my best day, and cycling is a lot mental too. There are a lot of things off the bike, and sometimes things just build up,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            What to read next<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;We&#8217;re cyclists, but we&#8217;re human too, aren&#8217;t we? And it just became a massive ball of stress, and in the end, that shows, doesn&#8217;t it? Mentally. In the end, I managed to handle it as best I could, and now I&#8217;m much calmer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more see-more--clipped kiosq-b\" id=\"elk-2085783930867716532\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet hawk-ignore\" data-lang=\"en\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2085783930867716532\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83e\udec2Paula Blasi i Elisa Longo Borghini han treballat juntes a l&#8217;etapa reina del Tour\ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udeb4\u200d\u2640\ufe0fLes ciclistes d&#8217;UAE han escenificat la seva sintonia amb una abra\u00e7ada a la meta\ud83d\udc49https:\/\/t.co\/S0qWoPrrgf pic.twitter.com\/flX3zgiPoq<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2085783930867716532\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2085783930867716532\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" rel=\"noopener\">August 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-bce2cfe8-92cc-11f1-9142-e9946936f03d\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Blasi, who crossed the line in fifth, was quick to hug Longo Borghini, after the pair had successfully worked their way back to now-former yellow jersey Marlen Reusser.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;Without hardly speaking, we understood each other. I think that&#8217;s the lovely thing \u2013 we&#8217;re very similar in that respect: competitive, but honest,&#8221; Blasi said of their effort.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;We both found ourselves in a situation where we knew that either we both gave it our all or we wouldn&#8217;t catch the leaders. Getting a podium finish in the Tour is brilliant. Thank you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Their teammate <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/dominika-wlodarczyk\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/dominika-wlodarczyk\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/dominika-wlodarczyk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">W\u0142odarczyk<\/a> finished eighth on the stage and dropped two places on GC to eighth. Speaking just after crossing the line, she said that she was pleased with how she and the team had tackled the Giant of Provence.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I&#8217;m very proud of my effort. I did what I could,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;Maybe I could have stayed a bit longer with the girls, and then I could have had the group in front of me, but you never know. On such a brutal climb, you just need to pace yourself. So I just paced myself, and it is what it is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Ventoux itself, included in the race for the first time, was &#8220;epic, brutal, iconic,&#8221; she told <em>Cyclingnews<\/em>, singling out the wind blowing in the face on the mountain&#8217;s famous exposed upper section.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">She also took time to congratulate Niewiadoma-Phinney on her victory and yellow jersey on what was a momentous day for the Tour.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;Kasia is not from my team, but she&#8217;s Polish, so it&#8217;s also really nice. If Kasia won, then it&#8217;s super nice,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;And I guess it was a good day for us [at UAE]. The race is not over until Nice, you know?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><em><strong>Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women&#8217;s cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women&#8217;s peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! <\/strong><\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>Join today.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/it-just-became-a-massive-ball-of-stress-paula-blasi-and-uae-team-limad-united-on-mont-ventoux-after-challenging-week-at-tour-de-france-femmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UAE Team L&#8217;IMAD began the 2026 Tour de France Femmes with a seemingly unclear leadership strategy and a host of riders appearing ready to assume the mantle. A week on, as the race reached Mont Ventoux, the hierarchy couldn&#8217;t be clearer, and with their embarrassment of riches resulting in three riders among the GC top [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-256712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}