Elisa Longo Borghini hit back at journalists Tuesday and accused the media of exaggerating reports of tension between UAE Team L\u2019Amid leaders and Spanish sensation Paula Blasi at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest storylines of this year\u2019s Tour de France Femmes has centered on whether Blasi, Spain\u2019s breakout Vuelta winner, is being held back by team orders.<\/p>\n
The debate has even spawned a #FreeBlasi hashtag across social media.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after Tuesday\u2019s time trial in comments posted to YouTube by journalist Felix Mattis, Longo Borghini did not hold back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to say that you guys are making it up so big, bigger than it is,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cWe are fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Italian said coverage of the story has unfairly portrayed UAE as a divided team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not nice to scroll on Instagram and to see all those stupid articles that you are writing, saying that we don\u2019t have a nice atmosphere and picturing us like we are a shit team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Longo Borghini hits back at criticism<\/h2>\n
Longo Borghini\u2019s blunt comments are the latest twist in one of the biggest storylines of this year\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n
Spanish media first picked up the story after UAE officials told Blasi that she would race her first Tour primarily to learn and support GC leaders Longo Borghini and Dominika W\u0142odarczyk.<\/p>\n
Blasi revealed the team tactic in early media interviews, but the story has quickly taken on a life of its own across cycling media and in social media comment sections.<\/p>\n
Longo Borghini accused journalists of overblowing the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure she\u2019s not happy coming to the dinner table, knowing that there are those articles going around,\u201d the Italian said. \u201cSo pay attention also to the person sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The #FreeBlasi debate explodes<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s easy to understand why some are questioning the team\u2019s tactics.<\/p>\n
Blasi, 23, is racing her first Tour de France Femmes and has admitted that she sometimes struggles with positioning inside the bunch.<\/p>\n
But the Spanish climber has quietly ridden herself into the top 10 as the race heads toward the race-breaking mountains, including the highly anticipated Mont Ventoux stage on Friday.<\/p>\n
Blasi told Velo\u2019s<\/em> Andy McGrath at the start of the Tour that she\u2019s fine with the team dynamic.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no, I\u2019m actually really happy. The team has a clear mindset and of course, you need to respect that,\u201d she told Velo<\/em>. \u201cWe all did our preparation and for sure, then [each rider\u2019s training] numbers are there and I truly believe in the race tactics we have as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spaniard entered Wednesday\u2019s fifth stage sitting seventh overall at 1:12 and wearing the white jersey as best young rider.<\/p>\n Longo Borghini is fifth at 1:03 back, just nine seconds ahead of her younger teammate.<\/p>\n W\u0142odarczyk, the team\u2019s other protected GC rider, is 11th at 1:59 back.<\/p>\n Of course, the legs decide any race, and UAE\u2019s tactics will evolve as the race unfolds.<\/p>\n UAE sport director Cherie Pridham has also insisted the team\u2019s strategy has been clear from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s here to learn. She has her strengths, we\u2019re there to support her, of course,\u201d she told Velo<\/em>. \u201cBut from the beginning of the year, our strategy was always to support Dommy and Elisa.\u201d<\/p>\n The scrutiny has intensified due to expectations that Blasi will leave UAE at the end of the season despite being under contract through 2027.<\/p>\n Despite reports she is heading to Spain\u2019s Team Movistar, her agent, Alex Carera, told Velo<\/em> last month that no deal had been finalized.<\/p>\n Longo Borghini, 34, also has a contract with the UAE-backed team through 2027.<\/p>\n Blasi, a former middle-distance runner, only started racing full-time on the road in 2024, when a season highlight was fourth overall at the Tour de l\u2019Avenir.<\/p>\n Last year, she made the jump to UAE\u2019s WorldTour team with another string of impressive results, including the U23 European road title.<\/p>\n She broke out in 2026, winning the Amstel Gold Race and beating back pre-race favorites like Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot and Anna van der Breggen to win the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a Femenina.<\/p>\n Many assumed she would have GC freedom to chase the final podium and perhaps even more.<\/p>\n Longo Borghini also had problems in Tuesday\u2019s decisive time trial that cost her momentum and precious seconds.<\/p>\n She said she dropped her chain and was forced her to swap bikes with about two kilometers to go.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a shame because the performance was really good, but that\u2019s cycling,\u201d she said on the team\u2019s website. \u201cYou have to accept it and keep looking ahead. The Tour de France Femmes has only just begun and the road to Nice is still very long.\u201d<\/p>\n The Italian \u2014 a two-time Giro d\u2019Italia Women champion \u2014 is hoping to stay on track in the 2026 Tour.<\/p>\n She abandoned in 2023 and 2025, did not race in 2024 due to a training crash, and finished sixth in 2022.<\/p>\n As the Tour heads toward Mont Ventoux, the legs will ultimately decide who leads UAE into Nice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tour-de-france-femmes\/elisa-longo-borghini-slams-freeblasi-narrative-rocking-tour-de-france-femmes\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2288881841.jpg”] Andrew Hood Published August 5, 2026 04:44AM Elisa Longo Borghini hit back at journalists Tuesday and accused the media of exaggerating reports of tension between UAE Team L\u2019Amid leaders and Spanish sensation Paula Blasi at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. One of the biggest storylines of this year\u2019s Tour de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2078892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2078892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2078892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2078892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2078892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Transfer rumors fuel speculation<\/h2>\n
Mechanical costs Longo Borghini time<\/h2>\n