Can Gall put the pressure on Vingegaard in Sunday's mountain stage? 'I didn't expect to be this close'

Everyone was looking at Giulio Pellizzari to take the fight to Jonas Vingegaard on Blockhaus. But when the young Italian cracked under the Danish champion's pressure, another challenger stepped forward. Felix Gall stayed right on Vingegaard's wheel and even reduced the gap in the closing kilometres. Is the Austrian climber now Vingegaard's chief rival for the Giro?

Gall lost just 13 seconds to stage winner Vingegaard on Blockhaus and now sits third in the general classification. But the Decathlon CMA CGM team leader stays grounded. "He's the best — the Grand Tour rider we have next to Tadej," he told Domestique. "I mean, it's not like I beat him on Friday. He was still faster. He's a better time triallist as well. For now, it's such a long way still to go to Rome. Of course, I'm really happy with how it went, but it's a long way."

It may be wise not to run ahead of himself — but the climber, who won a stage at the Tour de France in 2023, knows this is a moment to produce something special. "The numbers I did on Blockhaus were a big step from what I did in the past," he said. "I'm super happy, it was a really good performance, and I have really good shape. It's just the start of this Giro, but it gives me a lot of confidence for sure."

Gall had to let Vingegaard and Pellizzari go when the pair accelerated on Blockhaus — but at his own pace he produced a magnificent climb, passing the Italian and putting his other rivals for the podium at a significant disadvantage. "A stage like the Blockhaus suited me well, because it was a long day with a really hard finish, so I was hoping to be good — but of course not to be this close."

With a deficit of under twenty seconds to Vingegaard — with the pink jersey still on the shoulders of Afonso Eulalio — a great deal appears possible for the Austrian. But he keeps his focus not on pink, but a little below it. "I think the podium is the big goal, also just for me in general," he said. "I was top five in the Tour de France last year, so it's the logical next step in my career to aim for a podium in a Grand Tour, which is a really ambitious and high goal."

"I want to try to achieve it this year. The Giro is the first chance to do it, and then there's the Vuelta later in the season. But for sure, it's still a very long way to go, and everything has to line up." Tuesday brings a time trial — Gall's acknowledged weakness. The Vuelta a España has two time trials on the programme, totalling 41.5 kilometres against the clock.