Gall praises Vingegaard and Visma's latest summit finish masterclass: 'They showed who is in charge'

Just as he had done in the previous three summit finishes, Felix Gall was the only rider who attempted to follow Vingegaard’s acceleration 6.6 km from the finish from a group that had been whittled down by Visma | Lease a Bike to just six riders. 

However, it became apparent very quickly that the Dane was heading on his own trajectory, and Gall had to relent. 

To avoid blowing up, Gall made the decision to wait for the Netcompany Ineos duo of Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal, who were also part of the sextet when Vingegaard attacked. 

“I thought I could do the same as the last hard stages, just do my own pace, but yeah, that was not possible today,” Gall told reporters at the finish, including CyclingPro.net. “Then I saw that Thymen [Arensman] still had [Egan] Bernal to help him, and I knew about the flat part, and then I thought it would make more sense to wait for them.”

Gall used the British team’s strength in numbers to his advantage, enabling him to follow the wheels rather than dictate the tempo. When Arensman pushed on inside the final 2km, only Gall and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) from the chasing group were able to respond. 

“I was trying, but I could sit on their wheel and do a little sprint in the end,” said Gall. 

In the dash to the line, Gall proved his form once more, distancing his rivals to finish second for the fourth consecutive summit finish. Finishing 1:09 behind Vingegaard, Gall gained two and five seconds on Hindley and Arensman, respectively. 

“Well, little, I was digging quite deep, but yeah, to gain a few seconds again,” said Gall. “It was a very short, very intense stage. My team did a really great job again, and it's also a great start to the third week.”

Gall had previously alluded to the fact that he was more focused on the podium rather than trying to usurp Vingegaard in the standings. 

Vingegaard’s fourth stage win and his winning margin put him in a prime position overall, 4:03 ahead of Gall, who moved past Afonso Eulálio into second, while Arensman is in third at 4:27.

“I mean, they [Visma] showed again who is in charge here, also as a team. It's really impressive and yeah, Jonas, he's just doing his thing,” said Gall.