Leader Gall happy, but domestique Mühlberger critical after Decathlon's aggression at the Vuelta: 'Couldn't really do my job properly'

Decathlon CMA CGM once again impressed with a strong team performance in Stage 9 of the Vuelta a España, but once again it didn’t yield the desired result. Felix Gall lost some more time to stage winner Enric Mas (Movistar), and according to lead-out man Gregor Mühlberger, the cause of this may well have been within the team itself.

Gall finished fourth in the stage, 18 seconds behind Mas. As a result, the Austrian is now third in the overall standings, 1.39 minutes behind Mas. Not bad, considering that Gall had already lost a good minute to many of his competitors after the opening weekend. In every mountain stage that followed, Decathlon CMA CGM therefore took the initiative.

Gall had gained some time here and there and wanted to make the ninth stage a tough one with his French team as well. On a long final climb of 22 kilometers, all eyes were on the last 7 kilometers, which were the steepest. They knew that at Decathlon, too, but: “Maybe I wanted too much today; as a team, we started a little too early in an attempt to make it super tough,” Gall said self-critically in a press release.

"I pushed myself a bit too hard in the last 5 kilometers. There was a headwind, and with 2 kilometers to go, I ran out of steam a bit. In the end, though, I was able to finish strong, so the gap wasn't too big," he added. The overall feeling after the first week is therefore positive. “We’re racing at a very high level. The team is impressive, and I feel good, too.”

Mühlberger also started his interview with Eurosport on a positive note. “The team is amazing, really strong,” said the Austrian, who, just as he did in the Giro d’Italia, is playing an incredible support role for Gall. With his powerful legs, Mühlberger was therefore a bit frustrated that he had to take the lead so early in the flatter section of the final climb.

"I'm not going to say I'm really disappointed, but I do think we need to talk a little more with each other over the next two weeks—about how we're feeling and how we can do our jobs. We tried again and showed that we’re racing aggressively. But actually, I should have made my move only 7 or 6 kilometers from the finish.”

"I got into the wind a little too early and couldn't really do my job properly that way. It wasn't perfect, but we hadn't expected some of the guys to be weaker than others today."