Why Vingegaard Might Still Have to Worry About Felix Gall

Felix Gall may end up losing time in Tuesday’s Giro d’Italia time trial, but his bid for a podium — or better — is still very much on track.

That’s the message of Decathlon CMA CGM Head of Performance Stephen Barrett, who suspects that Tuesday’s decisive TT might even surprise a few people.

“We did a lot of TT work at the altitude camp at Mount Etna. I know it’s a big point that he’s not so good in the TT, but he’s worked a lot on that aspect this year,” the Irishman told Velo.

“He has a triathlon background, swimming and running, and he’s got very, very long legs, so biomechanically it’s difficult for him to be in a very aerodynamic position. But we’ve done a lot of work with Van Reisel, with Swiss Side, our two partners and got him some special bars. He’s ready to do a good TT.”

Jonas Vingegaard need not be too concerned; Barrett readily admits his predictions of a good time trial are relative to what he has done before.

“Felix will lose time to the favorites, but he should do a good TT,” he said.

So, no danger of a stage win against the clock. But, remaining within striking distance of the others?

That is the target for Tuesday and, he believes, should be within reach.

A star on the rise?

Tall, thin and blessed with a good weight to height ratio, Gall has for several years been regarded as one of the world’s best climbers. That began back at the 2023 Tour de Suisse when he attacked 20km from the finish in Leukerblad and finished more than a minute ahead of Remco Evenepoel.

The Austrian then went on to an epic performance at the Tour de France.

Tenth overall starting stage 17, Gall was one of a large group which escaped 133km from the finish at Courchevel. That Queen stage of the Tour included the Col de la Loze, the highest climb of that year’s race.

The day was memorable for two reasons: it was where Jonas Vingegaard buried Tadej Pogačar’s GC hopes, putting over five and a half minutes into him.

It was also where Gall really proved his potential, claiming victory with solo charge ahead of the likes of Simon Yates and Pello Bilbao.

Three years later, Gall is impressing once again. He was the only rider within reach of Vingegaard on Friday’s stage to Blockhaus, actually climbing faster than the Danish rider inside the final kilometers and closing to just 13 seconds by the line.

He was again very good on Sunday, launching the key move on the final climb and dragging Vingegaard away. The latter sat on him and eventually took the stage, but Gall was just 12 seconds back and, in the mountains, is very clearly his closest rival.

“Felix is in very, very good shape. He’s certainly producing numbers which are impressive,” Barrett said.

“We’ve seen him in very, very good form in the Tour de France a few years ago when he won on Col de la Loze. What we see now he is more consistent.

“The Col de la Loze was a really good performance. Now he can consistently produce those performances.”

The training behind the Giro form

Now 28 years of age, Gall is riding his seventh grand tour. He was a career-best fifth in last year’s Tour, and has continued to evolve physically and mentally.

Gall is poised third overall on Monday’s rest day, and is second of the big GC contenders.

The key question for Barrett is how has he reached a new level this season?

Part of it is, of course, physical.

“He’s been in a really good state of mind, but also in his preparation this year has been really good,” he said. “A good preparation camp in December. Then we had another two camps in Sierra Nevada in end of January, which was quite affected by weather. That snow meant a lot of indoor training in January, February, but he still trained extremely well.”

His racing began at the UAE Tour, where he showed solid form. He did an altitude camp in Tenerife and then squared off against Vingegaard at the Volta a Catalunya.

Second to the Dane on the climb of La Molina/Coll de Pal on stage 5 was encouraging, and while he lost time on descents the following day, Barrett was satisfied.

“He had very, very good form, we saw his level was good,” he said. “Then he went back to another altitude camp at Mount Etna, just before the Giro.”

That alternation between altitude training camps and blocks of racing has clearly produced benefits. But in twin with that there have also been specific shifts in his training.

“We really focused on maximizing his strengths, and his strengths are his durability and his ability to resist fatigue,” explained Barrett.

“He had very, very big volume in December and January. Then we started to focus more on intensity, so we polarized work a bit more, and we focused on his ability to produce high power for sustained periods.

“Felix is not the most explosive rider. You are trying to improve where his weaknesses are, but you’re really trying to maximize what he’s good at.

“So we focused on his durability. We focused on a bit on his ability to follow attacks, to make attacks, to make attacks which can he can sustain. That meant a lot of spiked efforts, a lot of sustained efforts above threshold.

“And it seems to have paid off so far.”

Mental gains: ‘He’s really stepping up’

It’s often said that cycling is about head and legs. Form is crucial, but so too mentality. Gall’s improvement are not just physical ones, but have also come about in other areas.

They are in ways a consequence of his growing strength, but so too of his team’s increasing faith in him.

“With Felix, it was always a case of being a guy who stepped back, and when the opportunity arose, he could take it,” Barrett, Decathlon’s Head of Performance, explained. “But now he’s got a strong team around him.

“He’s got a strong group of teammates who believe in him. People like Gregor Mühlberger, Callum Scotson, and Johannes Staune-Mittet, Oliver Naesen. And he has a group of DS’s like Luke Roberts who believe in him.

“That all gives him confidence to allow him to realize his potential.”

That in turn has seen him develop into the person he needed to be.

The picture is of a reluctant star who has gradually become more comfortable with that.

“They have given him so much confidence in Felix that he is now really stepping up and being a leader,” Barrett said.

“He was always a very good rider, but he wasn’t really the most charismatic leader. But now he’s a leader. And he’s been getting the guys to work for him. They’re motivated to work for him, and with him.

“He has built confidence year after year. Now he’s getting to deliver in a consistent way, which is nice.”

Is pink a possibility?

Gall’s physical and psychological progress bodes well for the Austrian, and so too for his team. Decathlon will field the great young hope Paul Seixas in the Tour, with the Frenchman set to lead the team at just 19 years of age.

That’s a huge step, but France in July is far from the sole focus. Gall will also target the Vuelta this year, a race Barrett feels could suit him particularly well due to the nature of the climbs, but before then he will push for the best possible Giro result.

Barrett previously saw another Decathlon rider make a big leap forward and believes Gall can do the same.

“I remember saying to Ben O’Connor a few years ago that he was no longer a guy who should be happy with a top 10 in the WorldTour race, or a top six in a grand tour. It’s podium.

“Felix has done top five in the Tour de France, he’s been around, he’s won a stage. But now Felix is one of the best climbers in the world. So, the objective and the goal remains podium in the Giro.

“We know Jonas is at a very, very high level. We’ve seen this every year for the last number of years, but the objective remains certainly podium. And I think we can achieve this over the next couple of weeks.”

Given his best grand tour result was fifth in last year’s Tour, top three in Italy would mark progress. But in pinpointing the podium, Barrett also makes clear that they are not just accepting a Vingegaard victory.

“We’re not just focused now on getting second place. In Catalunya Jonas was really a step above Felix. But on Blockhaus we saw that when Jonas made the attack, Felix got dropped. But then he really maintained the gap, and actually closed that gap in towards the finish. So there’s opportunities for Felix to take time in Jonas.

“Of course, Jonas, we know, is a very good, exceptional time trialist, so he’s going to put time into Felix there.”

The podium may be a more realistic goal, but it’s also a case of never say never.

Aim high, hope for even more.

“The Maglia Rosa is not out of the question. The focus certainly remains on a podium in Rome.”