Paula Blasi produced the biggest victory of her young career with a daring late solo attack to win the 2026 Amstel Gold Race Women, holding off a chasing group packed with major contenders after a chaotic final lap in Limburg.
The UAE Team ADQ rider attacked alongside Nienke Vinke with just over 18km to go, then rode clear on the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg. From there, she resisted the combined chase of FDJ United-SUEZ, Lidl-Trek, SD Worx-Protime and Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, before reaching the finish alone in Berg en Terblijt.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney took second after a sharp move on the final ascent of the Cauberg, with Demi Vollering finishing third after being forced into a late pursuit. It was a result that rewarded Blasi’s courage, UAE Team ADQ’s tactical patience and a race that never quite settled once the final circuits began.
Early break controls the first half of the race
The 2026 Amstel Gold Race Women began in Maastricht before heading towards Valkenburg and the familiar finishing circuit around the Cauberg, Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg. With 158.1km and 22 classified climbs on the route, the race was never going to be flat in rhythm, even if the decisive action took time to form.
The early pace was high enough to prevent an immediate breakaway, but Annelies Nijssen of Lotto-Intermarché eventually forced the first real move. She was joined by Nicole Steigenga, Kiara Lylyk, Heidi Franz and Scarlett Souren, with Natalie Quinn, Ilse Grit and Yonna van Dam later trying to bridge across.
The leaders were kept on a relatively tight leash at first, but their advantage eventually moved beyond three minutes as the race passed through the early climbs. The Bergsweg, Korenweg, Nijswillerweg, Kruisberg and Eyserbosweg began to thin the day’s first break, with Lylyk and Souren losing contact before the peloton entered the finishing circuit.
By the first passage of the Cauberg, only Nijssen, Steigenga and Franz remained at the head of the race. Their advantage had dropped to around 50 seconds, and the bunch, led increasingly by the major teams, caught the move with around 70km to go.
Photo Credit: GettyFDJ United-SUEZ and SD Worx-Protime trade control
Once the race came back together, Lidl-Trek briefly took up the pace before FDJ United-SUEZ began policing the front for Vollering. SD Worx-Protime, however, were not prepared to sit back and wait. Lorena Wiebes appeared on the front on the Geulhemmerberg, then drifted back, with Anna van der Breggen later making the Cauberg hard enough to reduce the group further.
The middle laps became a sequence of attacks and counters. Loes Adegeest tried to go for Lidl-Trek. Blanka Vas accelerated for SD Worx-Protime. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Steffi Häberlin briefly opened a gap before Franziska Koch closed it down for FDJ United-SUEZ. Niamh Fisher-Black and Puck Pieterse also tested the group, but each time the move was brought back before it could settle.
The repeated moves did more than animate the race. They steadily reduced the number of riders capable of responding when the decisive attack came. Marianne Vos was distanced on one of Van der Breggen’s accelerations but later returned, while the front group became increasingly selective heading into the final 30km.
Blasi turns hesitation into the winning move
The key moment came after Nienke Vinke attacked and the chasers hesitated. Paula Blasi bridged across, and suddenly the pair had 14 seconds before the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg. That margin soon grew as the main group looked around, with several teams represented and FDJ United-SUEZ left carrying the responsibility for Vollering.
On the Cauberg, Blasi proved she was not simply trying to create pressure for UAE Team ADQ. She dropped Vinke and rode alone over the top, opening a gap that forced the race into a very different shape. FDJ United-SUEZ had Juliette Berthet and Elise Chabbey working for Vollering, but UAE Team ADQ had numbers in the chasing group and no reason to help.
With 20km to go, Blasi had around 35 seconds over the chase. That grew to almost 50 seconds on the Geulhemmerberg, then edged towards a minute as the final lap unfolded. Vinke remained between Blasi and the bunch for a spell, which added another complication for the chasers, with SD Worx-Protime able to avoid taking full responsibility.
Blasi’s position became stronger as the final 10km approached. Lidl-Trek and FDJ United-SUEZ tried to lift the pace, but UAE Team ADQ had riders ready to disrupt and monitor. The Spanish rider briefly lost time after almost taking a wrong turn at a roundabout, yet she still reached the final ascent of the Cauberg with close to a minute in hand.
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Photo Credit: Getty
Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering fight for the podium
The final climb of the Cauberg delivered the expected counter-punch from behind, but by then Blasi had enough in reserve. Vinke was caught on the lower slopes before Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked, with Vollering immediately moving onto her wheel and Noemi Rüegg close behind.
Vollering then made her own move, but Niewiadoma-Phinney stayed with her. Anna van der Breggen led the next chase behind, yet the fight for victory was already beyond them. Blasi held more than 30 seconds into the final kilometre and crossed the line alone for a breakthrough WorldTour victory.
Behind her, Niewiadoma-Phinney edged Vollering for second place. It was a strong return for the Polish rider after her crash at Milan-Sanremo, and a notable result against one of the most consistent finishers in the women’s peloton. Vollering, meanwhile, had to settle for third after FDJ United-SUEZ had spent much of the race controlling the strongest attacks.
Blasi earns biggest win of her career
For Blasi, this was a major step forward. She had shown promise in 2025, including victory in the uphill time trial at the Tour de Romandie, but Amstel Gold Race Women was on another level entirely. This was not a win gifted by hesitation alone. She had to attack, commit, ride through the exposed roads of Limburg, survive the Cauberg and manage the final kilometres under pressure.
After the finish, Blasi admitted the scale of the result had not yet sunk in. “I think I will need a couple of weeks or even months to realise it,” she said. She also explained how unexpectedly the move had developed.
“Actually when I was alone and crossed the finish line I didn’t even know how many kilometres I had left. Five minutes before I did the break out I was dropped, so I just came back and I said, ‘OK let’s give it a go try to help,’ and suddenly I found myself in the front.”
The win also continued UAE Team ADQ’s impressive spring. Karlijn Swinkels had already won Trofeo Alfredo Binda, while the team had repeatedly been present in the decisive parts of the cobbled and Ardennes-style races. At Amstel, they turned that strength into a defining result, with Blasi making the most of the tactical hesitation behind her.
FDJ United-SUEZ will leave with another podium and another demonstration of collective strength, but not the victory their control had suggested was possible. SD Worx-Protime remained active throughout, although their strongest cards were never quite able to impose themselves late. Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, meanwhile, could take encouragement from Niewiadoma-Phinney’s sharp finish in her first race back after injury.
Amstel Gold Race Women often rewards timing as much as strength. Blasi found both, attacking at the precise moment the favourites began to hesitate, then riding with enough composure to make the move last all the way to Berg en Terblijt.
Amstel Gold Race Women 2026 Result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
