Felix Gall: 'I've heard that quite a few riders have fallen ill in the Giro'

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) has emerged over the past few days as the main challenger to Jonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike at the Giro d'Italia. The affable Austrian, now sitting third overall, took time on the second rest day of the race to speak at length to the press, including IDL Pro Cycling, after a strong opening nine stages.

Gall was already regarded as one of the best climbers in the Giro before the race began, but on stage seven and stage nine he showed that he has all but filled the gaping gap between Jonas Vingegaard and the rest. With the time trial — not his strongest discipline — coming up on Tuesday, he has one eye on rivals including flying Dutchman Thymen Arensman.

"Actually, yes. I am very happy with how things have gone so far in this Giro d'Italia. We've had two tough uphill finishes and I had not expected to reach this level. But we mustn't forget that we've only had nine days and there is still a lot to come in this Giro."

"Vingegaard not following? That's racing. If I had been in his position, I would probably have done the same thing. It's not as if we deserved that stage win more just because we spent time on the front. I was more focused on the riders behind and the time I could take on them, knowing that the time trial was coming on Tuesday.

Thymen wasn't that far behind and I wanted to make sure the gap to him stayed, so I didn't really have much time to think about Jonas. But I didn't see any sign of suffering from him when I looked back — unfortunately."

"Not really. In recent years he has consistently shown, alongside Tadej Pogacar, that he is the best in stage races, and he doesn't show many cracks. He has a strong team, handles all kinds of climbs well, and he's just a very complete rider."

"The time trial is not really one of my strengths, but we have done everything possible to let me produce my best effort. I've trained a lot on the time trial bike over the past few months and we've tried to make some improvements during the Giro build-up.

I have confidence in the position I have now, and the data we have shows I'm faster than before. With such a long time trial, with almost no corners, it's really important to have confidence in your position and the power you can put out from it. I've already done a reconnaissance on the rest day and will do so again on the morning of the time trial, but it's pretty straightforward. I'm going to lose time, but I hope to limit the damage."

"We've made the cockpit angle a bit steeper compared to the position I had at the UAE Tour earlier this year. We've been testing for years and in the wind tunnel it always looked pretty good, but on race days I often found it hard to hold that position and keep riding with my head down.

It's important to keep the gap between your arms and head as small as possible, but I always struggled with that after, say, eight minutes at race effort. I'd start to lose concentration a bit and have to work hard to stay in position, which cost me energy. By sitting a bit higher now, it feels more natural — and hopefully faster too."

"Uhhh... no. I know I have to train a lot for it, and we've done that, but ultimately it's still an uncomfortable position for me. The data we have now is promising though. During my training camp in Sicily I was surprised at how well it was going, so I'm actually really curious to see what it produces."

"I've known Gregor for a long time, but he's only been riding for our team for six months. We live close to each other in Salzburg and spend a lot of time together, including when we're away with the team — we always share a room. So we know each other well, but in racing we still need to build a little more of that understanding where we can read each other without needing to say anything."

"We're not even halfway yet, and so much can still happen. Starting with the time trial, where I do expect some gaps to open up. And on the rest day I've already heard that quite a few riders on several teams have fallen ill or are currently sick in the Giro. It's going round in the peloton, and you don't really have any control over that."

"Ever since we agreed at the start of the season that I would ride the Giro and the Vuelta, the goal has been to fight for the podium. That hasn't changed. It's an ambitious goal and everything has to fall into place, but I do think it would be a significant step in my career if I could reach the podium in a Grand Tour.

I've had a slightly different build-up to the Giro compared to previous Grand Tours — just two races and three altitude camps since the start of the season. That preparation has gone very well and it looks like I've been able to take another step forward, which I can see in my numbers.

You can shoot yourself in the foot with that kind of approach, but I think we've got it exactly right. I spent three weeks at altitude at the end of January, before the UAE Tour. After that I took some rest, then went to Teide for ten or eleven nights before the Tour of Catalonia. Then I did another three weeks on Etna ahead of the Giro, and that approach looks like it's paying off now."