Tour de France: Gall tackles general classification

July 10, 2023
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Gall presented himself to the local press freshly showered, because even on the day off, he sat on his bike for at least 75 minutes, followed by a massage and therapeutic appointments. “Of course there is a certain basic tiredness, but it’s okay physically, a year ago at the Giro I felt much worse,” said Gall, underlining the development.

Gall tackled his first Tour de France as a protected assistant, but outpaced team captain Australia’s Ben O’Connor and has now confirmed himself that he will be riding for him. “You can say that I’m the number one driver, but that I still have the opportunity to break away and fight for the stage win. The general classification is more important to me and a French team needs someone up front. The top ten aren’t unrealistic either,” says Gall, who will neglect the mountain jersey.

Tour de France: battle for the yellow jersey

Michael Woods won the mountain finish on the legendary Puy de Dome in the 110th Tour de France. The Canadian clinched victory on stage 9 ahead of France’s Pierre Latour and Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric. Meanwhile, the battle for the yellow jersey between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar is heating up.

Thanks to a hussar ride on the first Pyrenees stage, Gall was only the second local athlete to wear the dotted mountain jersey last week after Bernhard Kohl. The East Tyrolean has already proven several times that he can climb with the best. For a few months he has been at an even higher level of performance, most recently he celebrated his first victory as a professional at the Tour de Suisse, he put away the false start of the tour. “Especially in the first two days I was completely blocked, I didn’t feel good. I’m very happy to have found my form again.”

Stage win remains the goal, top duo “in their own league”

As third in the stage, Gall put on the mountain jersey, which he had to give back to the American Neilson Powless the following day. Even though Gall is currently second, the dotted jersey takes a back seat. “You have to decide whether you really want to go for it on a day like tomorrow, where points are at stake in the mountain jersey. Everything together does not work. I’ll definitely hold back in the next few stages and put the mountain jersey aside,” says Gall, who also makes it clear: “It’s still the goal to win a stage.”

APA/AFP/Thomas Samson Gall was only the second Austrian to wear the mountain jersey in the Tour de France – and that on his debut

Last year’s winner and overall leader Jonas Vingegaard from Denmark and Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia are of course out of reach for Gall (“They drive in a different league”). He put himself in the limelight: “Basically, I have the feeling that I have made a name for myself with the Tour de Suisse, that you are also respected when driving in positions. And that you are not immediately pushed off with your rear wheel or your elbow. The others know I’m there, that I’m strong and that there won’t be a hole if they’re on my back wheel.”

Breakthrough with announcement

Gall is already receiving shouts from the fans along the route (“It’s cool when you hear his name”). The rise does not come as a surprise, the breakthrough on the largest cycling stage in the world was announced. Even before his victory in the Tour de Suisse, Gall had attracted attention with top results in the Tour of the Basque Country and in 2022 at the Tour of the Alps.

Newcomer talks about career and doping

The triumph on a tough mountain stage in Switzerland also promoted the East Tyrolean to the leader’s jersey in the strong dress rehearsal for the Tour of France. He couldn’t keep that up, but finishing eighth overall showed Gall that he was in good shape for the Tour de France. After the ninth stage on Sunday he is 16th overall, 9:46 behind Vingegaard. O’Connor is two places behind Gall, the question of leadership now seems settled. The 1.80 meter tall and 66 kg light Tyrolean was originally not intended for the “Big Loop”. His strong performances in spring brought the former junior world champion from Nußdorf-Debant near Lienz his tour debut.

Steady path to success

15 years ago Bernhard Kohl was the first Austrian to wear the mountain jersey. However, the Viennese was convicted after the tour as an EPO doping offender. This is not the only reason why the successes of local drivers have always been viewed particularly critically. In this regard, Gall’s performance development from a young age is linear and unremarkable. After the first national and international junior successes of the HAK student, who was previously a triathlete, with gold at the 2015 Junior World Championships as the highlight, Gall switched to the development team of the German Sunweb racing team.

After three years in the young talent forge, he was promoted to the professional team of the team, in which he was not really happy in 2020 and 2021. Since the previous year, things have been going uphill more steeply in his current AG2R team, which recently honored Gall’s successes this year by extending his contract by two years until the end of 2025. Two of Gall’s companions and mentors are ex-pro Bernhard Eisel and East Tyrolean mountain bike veteran Alban Lakata, with whom he trains regularly in his home country.

Gall himself attributes his current strength to the preparation under the guidance of his trainer Stephen Barrett, which went for the first time in winter and spring without a break from illness. A long high-altitude training camp in May also went smoothly, so his condition has been good in recent weeks and now also on the tour. The increased self-confidence is also inspiring. “I’ve seen what’s possible. I don’t need to hide.”

rating

Standing behind nine of 21 stages: 1. Jonas Vingegaard DEN 38:38:03 2. Tadej Pogacar SLO + 0:17 3. Jai Hindley AUS 2:40 4. Carlos Rodriguez ESP 4:22 5. Adam Yates GBR 4:3 6. Simon Yates GBR 4:44 7. Tom Pidcock GBR 5:26 8. David Gaudu FROM 6:01 9. Sepp Kuss USA 6:45 10. Romain Bardet FROM 6:5

Felix Gall

AUT