"On the last climb I looked around and wondered what I was doing there" - Felix Gall stunned by his own performance

Stage 14 witnessed great performance by 25-year old Felix Gall. The Austrian youngster was sitting in 14th before the stage, but after his stellar ride, he quickly jumps into 9th overall. However further improvement won't be as easy, as Gall is 3:35 behind 8th overall Pello Bilbao.

"I was in so much pain," Gall begins his analysis of the day. "Jumbo-Visma rode so fast from the start and they constantly controlled the leading group. They had no chance. I didn't feel so good at the start, a bit blocked and the penultimate climb hurt so much that I almost had to let go."

None of that happened and so Gall suddenly found himself in the wheel of Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Carlos Rodriguez, Jai Hindley, Adam Yates and Sepp Kuss on the final climb of the day. "I'm happy with how the day went, even though I was on the limit all day. I even struggled on the descents, so I was happy to find Jai's wheel." He eventually finished together with Hindley at 1:46 from winner Rodriguez.

"On the last climb I looked around and wondered what I was doing there. It's a surprise to me, even if it's only the end of the second week. Everyone is tired and I hope I can keep this up."