"It was the right choice" - Perfect pacing almost earns Felix Gall a battle with Jonas Vingegaard

Felix Gall has previously shown great climbing ability, and last year his consistency also led him to finish fifth at the Tour de France. For the first time since his breakthrough three years ago as a top climber, he was started the Giro d'Italia, and put in one of the best rides of his career to finish second to Jonas Vingegaard on the climb to Blockhaus.

Decathlon CMA CGM Team has been having a stupendous season and, away from the spotlight due to the rise of Paul Seixas, Gall has had a good spring with some racing and training which has led him to start the Corsa Rosa in the ideal form. The Austrian struggled with the cold on stage 5, but under some better circumstances this Friday, he thrived.

With a team that didn't have to commit energy into chasing or pushing the pace in the peloton, Gall smoothly rode into position on Blockhaus, and promptly reacted when Jonas Vingegaard attacked.

“At first, I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t follow Pellizzari and Jonas, but then in the end it was the right choice. It was good that I did my own pace".

He had been joined by Gregor Mulhberger, who equally put in an impressive ride and stayed in the group deep into the climb. Gall had the confidence, the support and the legs. It was a really hard pace from the bottom from Visma, and Gregor [Muhlberger] did an amazing job keeping me out of the wind. There was quite some crosswind on the climb, so it made a huge difference. To have Gregor in the final was super nice.

"We got super lucky with the weather because we had a really nice tailwind all day, and I think that cut the stage a bit shorter…”

After Giulio Pellizzari cracked from the wheel of Vingegaard, Gall took the opportunity to move through his rival. He kept a high pace all the way to the finish, without cracking, and finished second on the day only 13 seconds back on the Dane. This sees him move up to third in the overall classification.

But beating Jonas Vingegaard is not his focus or main aim, for the time being at least. The coming two stages feature summit finishes in Fermo and Corno alle Scale; but stage 10 features a time trial where that gap will increase.

“I’d say he’s a much better time triallist than me to start with, and he’s the best Grand Tour rider we currently have, next to Tadej," he said of Jonas Vingegaard. "For sure, I’m not thinking about how to beat him for now. I’m just happy with my performance.”