Gall repels Carapaz onslaught to all but secure Vuelta podium: 'Maybe a bit boring to watch'

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) held firm after a barrage of attacks from the swashbuckling Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España, to all but secure his second Grand Tour podium of the season.

Gall started the penultimate stage on the virtual podium with a healthy advantage of 2:16 over Carapaz, enabling him to play a defensive role on the penultimate stage.

Though with over 5,000m of elevation gain on a stage littered with brutal ascents, Gall knew that the Ecuadorian would still try everything in his power to flip the script. And that’s exactly what happened. 

Decathlon, who have raced on the front foot for the majority of the Vuelta, suffered an early setback on the stage. After already losing the in-form Gregor Mühlberger, who sat in the top ten, to a crash on stage 12, Matthew Riccitello was also forced to withdraw from the race at the start of Saturday’s stage. 

Gall admitted that losing the American climber meant that the French team had to play their cards in a more reserved manner. 

“With losing Matthew [Riccitello] and then just with five riders left, we said, yeah, we just sit on the wheel and see. And then, as expected, Richie [Carapaz] was making it pretty hard for me today,” Gall told Eurosport.

Carapaz launched attack after attack on the stage, sometimes opening up an advantage on Gall, but the Austrian never panicked, remaining locked in on the pink target ahead of him. 

“Yeah, I mean, especially the first two on Monachil [Puerto de El Purche], they really hurt,” said Gall. “He’s [Carapaz] so explosive, and he knows exactly how and when to do it.”

Gall admitted that he thought his performance may have been “a bit boring to watch," but that he did exactly what he needed to on such a pivotal stage. 

"Maybe it was a bit boring to watch, but I just, I had to sit on his wheel all day. I did not want to close the gap again on him, and you don’t let the guy, yeah, such a strong rider, you don’t let him up the road.”

Gall managed to turn the tables on the final summit finish of the 2026 Vuelta, a debut visit to the brutal Collado del Alguacil. Gall managed to distance Carapaz and Primož Roglič halfway up the ascent, with the race leader Enric Mas (Movistar) the only one able to respond. 

In the end, Gall managed to wriggle free from the red jersey, whose priorities were on Rogliċ behind, to finish 13th on the stage, gaining 55 seconds back on the Slovenian, and putting almost two minutes into Carapaz. 

As a result, Gall sealed his place on the Vuelta podium and moved 29 seconds away from Roglič in second. 

A third-place finish at the Vuelta will stand proudly in Gall’s list of 2026 achievements alongside his second-place finish at the Giro d’Italia in May. 

The Austrian stated that his ambition for the season was to secure his first-ever Grand Tour podium, so to do so twice in a season makes his campaign a resounding success. 

“I mean, first we have to finish tomorrow’s stage. But I mean, it’s been a super good season so far, if I finish tomorrow." Gall said. “The big goal for me this year was to fight for a podium in a Grand Tour. I managed to do that in the Giro. It went super well.”

“Then yeah, I’m really happy that I was able to be in such good shape here again. I’m just very happy, and I think it’s good development.”