Felix Gall opens up on pressure of coming through with Tadej Pogacar: ‘That stressed me a lot’

Felix Gall has described Tadej Pogačar as the greatest cyclist in history and admitted that watching the Slovenian rise so quickly made him question his own development.

Gall, who is fighting for a podium place at the Vuelta a España, came through the junior ranks in the same generation as Pogačar and Marc Hirschi. While both quickly established themselves at WorldTour level, the Austrian needed considerably more time to find his place among the sport’s leading stage racers.

“He is the best cyclist in history,” Gall said of Pogačar in an interview with MARCA.

“Comparing myself with him made it more difficult, also to understand why I wasn’t progressing so quickly.”

Gall won the junior road race world title in 2015, but his transition into the professional ranks proved less straightforward than his early results had suggested.

He said adapting to longer races and the demands of professional cycling took several seasons, while the success of riders he had competed against as a junior added to the pressure.

“The guys I raced with as a junior, Pogačar, Hirschi, were winning in the WorldTour and I couldn’t progress in the way I wanted,” Gall said.

“That stressed me a lot.”

The 28-year-old said one of the biggest changes in his career came when he stopped measuring his progress against other riders.

“Everyone has their own speed and their own story,” he said. “For me it was very important to stop comparing myself with others and compare myself with my version of yesterday or a year ago.”

That development has been reflected in Gall’s results.

He finished on the Grand Tour podium at the Giro earlier this season and is now in contention to repeat that result at the Vuelta.

Gall entered the race targeting a place in the top three and remains realistic about his chances of challenging for overall victory.

Enric Mas has so far shown little weakness, while Gall also expects Primož Roglič and other general classification rivals to gain time on him in the individual time trial.

Gall believes he could concede around 90 seconds against the clock, leaving the final mountain stages as his best opportunity to improve his position. “If I have good legs and I see someone suffering, I will take the opportunity,” he said.

Gall regards climbing as one of his main strengths but accepts that his time trialling still needs to improve if he wants to remain a regular contender for Grand Tour podiums.

“I think there are not many rivals better than me when the road goes uphill,” he said. “But in the time trial I still have time to lose.”

The Austrian believes consistency has become the defining quality behind his recent results.
After several years of gradual development, he now feels more confident when entering major races as a team leader and says he has a clearer understanding of both his strengths and limitations.

“Now I have much more confidence because I know what I can do,” Gall said.

That confidence has not changed his approach to the final week of the Vuelta.

Gall said his main target remains the podium rather than taking unnecessary risks in pursuit of the overall victory, although he will attack if an opportunity presents itself in the mountains.

“If I can finish on the podium in this Vuelta, I will be very happy,” he said.

For Gall, another Grand Tour podium would also underline how far he has come since the years when the rapid success of Pogačar and others made him question his own progress.

The comparison has not disappeared. His perspective on it has.