Felix Gall on why losing 27 seconds to Enric Mas still left him satisfied at Vuelta

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) said Enric Mas (Movistar) timed his attack perfectly on the climb to Calar Alto on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, as the Decathlon rider tried to take the race to the red jersey but ultimately conceded 27 seconds. 

However, Gall admitted he was still satisfied after distancing Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos), which he revealed was a key goal for the stage.

Gall had been set up by his Decathlon teammates on the lower slopes of the summit finish, before attacking with around 13km remaining. He was followed by Mas and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), before continuing to push the tempo.

Though, it was Mas who would strike the decisive blow with 11km to go, quickly opening an advantage over Gall and Roglič, which he would ultimately hold to the finish. 

Gall finished alongside Roglič and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), 27 seconds behind the in-form Mas, and the Austrian credited the performance of the race leader at the finish.

“Yeah, I mean, he went at the perfect moment and wow, he's on a really high level,” Gall told reporters, including Eurosport, at the finish. 

"He showed it from the beginning, and he's super, super solid. I mean, he seems to be managing the red jersey well. I think, also mentally, he's doing a really good job.”

Decathlon were well represented in the finale, with four of the final nine riders in the red jersey group before Gall’s attack being members of the French team.

In addition, Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) featured in the breakaway and was able to drop back to help pace for Gall as he chased Mas alongside Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) inside the final 5km, as the gradients briefly eased.

Gall praised the work of his team and admitted that he had achieved his goal of distancing a key rival in Onley, who was the closest threat to his third-place position at the start of the stage.

Onley, who crashed early in the stage, was distanced on the final climb and conceded 1:42 to the Gall-led group at the finish, slipping from fourth to fifth overall.

“The objective was to drop one of the guys who are currently in contention for the podium. Unfortunately, Oscar [Onley] crashed, but, yeah, we could drop him, and that's basically all we wanted to do today,” explained Gall.

Gall now sits 2:06 from Mas in the overall standings and 21 seconds behind Roglič. In addition, he has more breathing room from those behind with a 1:47 buffer on Carapaz in fourth, leaving the Austrian content with his current position in the race after a challenging stage.

“I had to do a lot of work on the climb, but it was for sure a brutal day. It was so hot, and you could also see there were not many guys left in the end. But I'm managing it for sure, and I also feel some fatigue now. But so far, so good.”