Paula Blasi says her current team UAE Team L’IMAD kept asking her for money after she had paid the release clause in her contract, while she was earning the minimum salary.
Movistar Team announced on October 21 that the 23-year-old had signed a three-year deal with the Spanish squad. Her UAE contract ran until the end of 2027, so she is leaving a year early. In an interview with Spanish journalist Laura Alvarez, Blasi said the exit had been much harder than it looked from outside.
"Teams have a lot of pride and I'm not going to lie to you, they haven't made it easy for me to leave," she said. After she paid the clause, "they continued asking for a lot of money, which obviously if I was paid the minimum, which is what I've been paid all year, I couldn't pay more."
Blasi described the team's demands as "nonsensical" to her. "The truth is that there is more disappointment than resentment, right?" she said. "Because I always like to think that we are cyclists, it's a job, it's a business, but in the end, more than other jobs, cycling demands the human side."
Photo: Angel CamarenaThere have been a lot of rumours about the reasons for the falling-out between Blasi and UAE with some pointing towards a rider rivalry, but Blasi put that to bed: "I really think the girls are very, very strong. But I think the problem was higher up, perhaps on the part of more directors, more team management, who didn't know how to make the decisions that I would have liked and didn't make things very clear," she said.
Spanish reports differ on the size of the fee. MARCA put the release payment at €85,000 and her new salary at more than €600,000 a year. In September, El País reported a €100,000 payment made by Movistar, with a salary of around €500,000. Neither set of figures has been confirmed.
How a rider leaves a contract early
UCI rules say a team cannot register a rider who is under contract with another team until that contract has ended. It can end in three ways: a three-party transfer agreement, a mutual termination, or a termination notice from one side. A team that wants a rider before her contract expires must tell her current team before talks begin. It must then sign a transfer agreement with the rider and that team before any binding new contract. If a rider ends a contract alone, she needs authorisation from the President of the UCI Arbitral Board. Registration for 2027 runs from October 15 to December 31. Blasi said her move is now signed and "accepted by the UCI".
In 2026 Blasi won Amstel Gold Race and became the first Spanish rider to win La Vuelta Femenina. At her first Tour de France Femmes she finished fifth, while Elisa Longo Borghini, her UAE Team L'IMAD teammate, took third overall. Blasi blamed directors and team management for the leadership tension at the Tour.
"If three or four or five of us can win and no one can set the course or direction, it's going to be more of a fight than a team race," she said. She said the riders' own experience brought "a bit of order that wasn't being brought in from above".
Blasi won’t be the sole leader at Movistar either: Marlen Reusser, who wore yellow at this year's Tour, also rides for the team. Blasi shared how she is looking forward to working with the time trial world champion: "we've already spoken with Marlen and everything is pretty clear, how we're going to distribute everything and even collaborate together," Blasi said. "I think that sometimes the strength lies in having two well-defined leaders and having them both understand each other."
The team will approve their 2027 plans in December. Blasi said both riders aim to arrive at the Tour in form, and that she would ride for Reusser if Reusser were stronger. She said Reusser had offered the same in return. "A leadership, if it's promised from the beginning of the year, can cause problems as has happened on other occasions," Blasi said.
