The Austrian Felix Gall is currently the second best climber behind pink wearer Jonas Vingegaard and is definitely on course for a podium finish at the Giro.
Exhausted but happy: This is how Austrian Felix Gall was seen after each of the four mountain stages so far Giro d’Italia. He had given everything. There was never any victory. But every time he felt like Best of the rest shown: So as the best of all those who don’t Jonas Vingegaard are. The Dane is riding lonely and alone towards his first Giro victory. Behind them there is a battle for places.
Moved up to second place defensively
Gall was also on the 16th stage on Tuesday (26/05/26), which took place in Switzerland between Bellinzona and the increase Cari was held, second in the stage. He was more than a minute behind Vingegaard. But in the sprint from the chasing group, Gall distanced himself from his toughest competitors Jai Hindley and Thymen Arensman and moved up to second place overall for the first time in this Giro.
His conclusion was correspondingly satisfied: “So far it’s going really extremely well. But yes, we’re now in the third week, the crucial week. We still have two extremely, extremely difficult stages ahead of us. And there’s still a tough battle ahead of us.”
He achieved second place in Cari in a defensive manner for the first time in this Giro. In the previous mountain stages he had stayed on the rear wheel of the dominant Jonas Vingegaard for the longest time and then reached the finish as a soloist. But now the Dane’s attack came so early that Gall preferred to hide in the chasing group, draw strength from the competitor’s rear wheel and ultimately surprise everyone with a formidable start.
Longest at Vingegaard
He has earned the luxury of being able to drive defensively through his previous efforts. “We are in front of the other podium candidates. That’s why we can act cautiously towards them”explained Luke Robertssporting director at Gall’s French Decathlon CMA CGM team, told Sportschau.
In the previous mountain tests on the 7th stage, the 9th and the 14th stage, Gall agreed to stay close to Vingegaard, but only because his attacks came very close to the finish. The maximum effort required to either shadow the Dane to the finish or to fight his way up behind him as a soloist was therefore of shorter duration in these cases.
Roberts therefore praises not only his driver’s performance but also his tactical clarity even in exhaustion situations: “He delivers a good race, stays focused the whole time. He knows exactly when he can attack, yes, when he has to attack. But he also knows when he has to stay calm. Yes, he made a good step in this race and he shows that he is a real contender for the podium.”
Changed training and Competition planning
Gall’s greatest qualities are his resilience on long climbs. The Austrian can keep up a high but steady pace. He’s hard to ride when tired and maintains his high level for 30 to 60 minutes. He has further developed these strengths this season, also thanks to a change in training and competition planning. “I’ve trained very well over the last few months, I’ve already done three altitude training camps, trained more, raced less”says Gall to Sportschau, adding with a laugh: “Yes, you wouldn’t have thought that I’m in such good shape now. I’m very happy.”
His sporting director also confirms the changed approach. “He’s had really few kilometers of racing this year, just the UAE Tour and the Tour of Catalonia. He’s also been working with the same trainer for a while. They’ve discovered patterns of how things go well and he can be in good shape.”says Roberts. “They did a really good job for this Giro.”
Setback in the fight against the clock
The only thing that didn’t suit Gall so far in this Giro was the time trial. This required a maximum effort for just over three quarters of an hour – actually Gall’s strength. In the time trial, however, this had to be done on a flat surface. And that doesn’t suit the Austrian at all. He lost valuable time to his main rivals in the battle for the padium, 51 seconds to Hindley and 2:28 minutes to Arensman.
The fact that he is still ahead of them is thanks to his performance on the mountain. Gall himself feels in the shape of his life. He even has the impression that… Benchmark of modern cycling – the performance level of the dominant one Grand Tour-Duos Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
Podium finish in a Grand Tour
But he is not so close that he will attack Vingegaard just yet. The Dane continues to compete in a different league for him. But he has come considerably closer to his big new goal for the season: “The goal is the podium for this season, at the Giro and Vuelta. That’s simply the next step in my career – a podium at a Grand Tour. Yes, that’s an ambitious goal and a lot of things have to come together for it.”
A lot of things come together at the Giro. He still won’t be going to the Tour de France. His racing team is planning there with the new prodigy Paul Seixas to get started. There is no prospect of a dual leadership with the famous Giro rider Gall. “Both have different racing programs and sometimes also different helpers”states Decathlons-CMA-CGM team manager Dominique Serieys compared to the sports show on the sidelines of the Giro.
That’s why the maximum for Gall this season is podium finishes at the Giro and Vuelta. This should also be a team-internal qualification criterion in order to get back into the tour squad in the next few years, with or without prodigy Seixas.
