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Movistar confirmed that 23-year-old Paula Blasi will join the Spanish WorldTour team in 2027 on a three-year contract through 2029, ending months of speculation over one of women’s cycling’s most sought-after transfer targets. The agreement gives the squad a homegrown climber and attacker capable of challenging for the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes with Zwift.
According to MARCA, Movistar paid €85,000 to UAE Team ADQ to release Blasi from her existing contract, which runs through 2027, and will pay her approximately €600,000 per season. The reported deal is worth more than €1.8 million over three years and immediately makes her one of the highest-paid riders in women’s cycling. Movistar has not publicly confirmed the financial details.
Blasi said the move reflects her desire to take the next step in her career with a team that believed in her goals, offered support and shared her ambition. “I’ll be able to grow, share leadership responsibilities and learn from Marlen, which will be important for my development as an athlete,” she said. “And on top of that, it’s my home team. It makes me even prouder to wear the jersey.”
The sporting opportunity mattered as much as the salary. MARCA reported that UAE offered more money to keep her, but Blasi chose Movistar after negotiations involving her agent Alex Carera, who also represents Tadej Pogačar, and team manager Sebastián Unzué. She was particularly drawn to the chance to learn from Marlen Reusser, take on leadership duties and develop within a team based in her home country.
Her 2026 season established her as one of the peloton’s most valuable riders. In only her second professional year, Blasi won the Amstel Gold Race and then the La Vuelta Femenina, combining elite climbing, endurance and aggressive racing. Those victories transformed her into one of the most sought-after signatures on the transfer market. She also placed fifth in her Tour de France Femmes debut while helping UAE teammate Elisa Longo Borghini reach the podium.
Blasi will now join Reusser and Liane Lippert in a Movistar lineup with several ways to attack the biggest races. Her climbing legs and willingness to launch attacks provide another weapon against rivals such as Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma. Since Annemiek van Vleuten retired in 2023, Movistar has been trying to rebuild a women’s squad capable of winning grand tours and classics; signing Blasi is a significant step in that project.
Team manager Sebastián Unzué said the club was delighted to have secured Blasi for the next three seasons. He described her contract as a new step in the team’s quality and ability to compete for the most important victories on the calendar, adding that the team was grateful for her trust in its project.
After her breakthrough 2026, Blasi aims to establish herself as a long-term leader and pursue prizes with Movistar. The move reinforces the resurgence of the Movistar “blues,” a brand that celebrated Enric Mas’s La Vuelta win, the squad’s first men’s grand tour since 2019.
