'I can't hold his wheel' - Gall on trying to follow Pogacar after Decathlon's bold tactics

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) was the only rider initially able to respond to Tadej Pogačar’s (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) move on the Collada de Belixalis on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España with around 50km remaining, but quickly realised he was on the limit. 

“Quickly I realised that I can’t hold his wheel,” Gall told reporters, including Domestique ahead of stage 5. 

As the Austrian started to drift from the wheel of the race leader, a larger chase group formed behind, though Gall had hoped the chasers would be more selective at that point.

“I was hoping that maybe just two or three guys would come from the back, but it was a somewhat big group,” he explained. 

Eventually, after a lead-out on the Coll d’Ordino from teammate and compatriot Gregor Mühlberger, Gall would power clear with Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos), before Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Enric Mas (Movistar) bridged across. 

Mühlberger would also later return alongside Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), and Gall credited the performance of his teammate.

“I was also lucky to have Gregor there. And, yeah, it's still a long way to go in the end. And also, in a sense, we still have to plan it quite a bit.

Gall’s attacks came after Decathlon CMA CGM had spent much of the short Andorran stage setting a strong pace, something that raised a few eyebrows in the peloton.

Movistar’s Iván Romeo admitted he had found the team’s approach difficult to understand given Pogačar’s superiority, while Gall’s teammate Léo Bisiaux explained that the objective was to make the race hard enough for Gall to put pressure on his podium rivals.

Gall confirmed the plan, while acknowledging that their work also helped create the conditions for Pogačar’s attack.

“Yeah, I mean, like I said, we wanted to make it hard before. And I mean, yeah we set him [Pogačar] up perfectly, but also it does make a difference, you know.”

In the end, Gall finished third on the stage as part of a six-man group, 2:39 behind Pogačar, who proved to be in a league of his own, and the Austrian acknowledged the blunt reality of racing for second.

“Yeah, it is. But also we kind of knew that before,” said Gall.

The Austrian nevertheless remains confident in his form, and believes he is at the same level that saw him finish runner-up behind Jonas Vingegaard at the Giro d’Italia in May.

“Yeah, I think so. I think I’m on a similar level, I guess.”

The Austrian sits seventh in the GC, 3:57 behind Pogačar, but just 25 seconds from the podium, after four stages.