Gall pushes Vingegaard surprisingly close at Giro but downplays pink jersey talk

A lot has changed in Felix Gall’s cycling life since he last raced up the Blockhaus four years ago. It was his debut Giro d’Italia, and he came in more than 26 minutes down after paying a heavy price for his efforts in the day’s early break.

When the Giro returned on Friday, Gall was one of the day’s outstanding performers, stalking winner Jonas Vingegaard all the way to the summit to take second place on the stage and put himself firmly in contention for a podium finish – or more – in Rome.

“I was here in my first Giro in 2022, and it was horrible back then, I could barely make it up,” Gall smiled atop the mountain. “It’s nice to be back.”

In the years since, Gall has steadily developed into a mainstay at Decathlon CMA CGM, beginning with his stage victory at Courchevel on the 2023 Tour de France, where he reached Paris in eighth place overall. 

Gall underscored his Grand Tour credentials still further a year ago, placing fifth at the Tour and eighth at the Vuelta a España, and he brought that experience to bear on the first summit finish of this Giro.

All eyes were on Vingegaard, the overwhelming favourite for the maglia rosa, and his inevitable attack came with 5.5km to go. Gall and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) were the only riders who even deigned to respond, but the Austrian quickly tapped out, realising that Vingegaard’s pace was too hot to touch.

It was a sage decision. While Pellizzari began to flounder a kilometre or so later, Gall managed to tread water at 20 seconds or so behind Vingegaard. On the upper reaches of the wickedly steep climb, he would even begin to eat into Vingegaard’s advantage, and he closed to within touching distance of the Dane in the finishing straight.

It wasn’t quite Stephen Roche almost catching Pedro Delgado at La Plagne all those years ago, but it was a notable performance all the same, with Gall crossing the line just 13 seconds behind Vingegaard.

“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,” said Gall, who had praise for teammate and compatriot Gregor Muhlberger’s company on the lower slopes.

“It was a really hard pace from the bottom from Visma, and Gregor 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…”

In the overall standings, Gall now lies third overall, 3:34 off maglia rosa Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), but just 17 seconds behind Vingegaard. With just one mountain stage completed, he is the only recognised GC contender still within a minute of Vingegaard, but he downplayed the idea that he could challenge him for final victory in Rome.

“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,” Gall said. “For sure, I’m not thinking about how to beat him for now. I’m just happy with my performance.”