Since the sensational coup that elevated Felix Gall to the rank of Athlete of the Year 2023 and at the same time helped him to gain a lot of publicity, the public’s eyes are increasingly turning to the East Tyrolean.
Felix Gall has not lost the carefree attitude that distinguished him last year, but it is noticeable that he today more in duty stands.
High expectations
On the one hand, with his team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, which significantly improved the East Tyrolean’s contract financially after last season. On the other hand, many people probably expected that things would continue in this vein and that Felix Gall would score the next victories. “The demands have definitely increased“, says the 26-year-old.
This even goes so far that his appearance at the Tour de France critically questioned Just to clarify: Gall finished 14th in the Tour de France, which this year had a better field than ever before, and made it into the top ten in two mountain stages.
Many professional cyclists pedal hard their entire career and still never reach these areas of the rankings.
New role
Felix Gall was this year not in full possession of his strength at the Tour de France and had physical problems in the final week. “I was ailing,” says the professional cyclist from Nußdorf-Debant, who has therefore been taking it easy on himself and his body in the last few weeks in order to his first Vuelta to regain strength.
In the three-week Tour of Spain, which starts tomorrow in Lisbon, Gall will initially take a back seat. His Australian colleague Ben O’Connor will be going into the Vuelta as team captain, while for newcomer Gall, the role of the noble helper provided.
Great opportunity
This is by no means to be understood as a demotion; this distribution of roles is rather calculated and ideally also opens up some opportunities for Felix Gall. “I will support Ben, but concentrate on stages,” says the Austrian. “There are a lot of mountains, which suits me.”
Clear strategy
This is also the clear ulterior motive of his team. If Gall is not fighting for the overall ranking, then he has the opportunity to ride in breakaway groups relatively undisturbed. targeted stage victory Just as he demonstrated last year in the queen stage of the Tour de France.
Compared to the Tour de France, the competition is manageable. With superstar Tadej Pogacar (SLO), the Dane Jonas Vingegaard and double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (BEL), the top three of the Tour de France are missing from the Vuelta.
Felix Gall is certainly one of the best climbers in the starting field These qualities are also in demand, because there are eight mountain stages on the program.
“The Vuelta opens up a number of opportunities for a rider like me,” says the 26-year-old from East Tyrol, who is taking part in two three-week tours in one year for the first time. “I don’t have the overall ranking in mind, but I don’t want to rule it out either.”