Oliver Naesen on the full Decathlon team plan to keep 'pinball' Felix Gall in GC contention

Jonas Vingegaard is widely regarded as the outright favourite for the Giro d'Italia, but in the mountains Felix Gall may well be the rider who can get closest to him. The Austrian has had certain weaker points in the past — something his team Decathlon CMA CGM are fully aware of and have been working to address. Experienced veteran Oliver Naesen explains all to IDL Pro Cycling.

Oliver Naesen (35) has ridden ten Tours de France but is now embarking on his first Giro. Arriving in Bulgaria was already an education. "I flew all the way to the other side of Bulgaria and drove four hours by car to get here — only to discover there's an airport half an hour away that you can actually reach from Belgium. I could have checked that myself," laughs the ever-cheerful rider.

At the team presentation, the veteran wore one cap — but he could just as easily have worn two. He is supporting both Gall and sprinter Tobias Lund Andresen, who has been performing outstandingly at his new team this season. "Things have shifted a little, but Felix remains the priority," Naesen explains.

"The team is talking about a top five, but I think he has a genuine shot at the podium. So we need to protect him, especially if things get chaotic or wet in the flat stages. On the other hand, I'm also part of Tobi's sprint train — so at certain moments we'll need to agree on how to handle that."

Back in January, Naesen had already said he would be both the right and left hand of Gall on the flat. "Felix has made real progress in that work, I have to say. When he was younger, he was a pure climber. The flat stages were a real source of frustration for him — they were annoying, they cost energy, and he just had to get through them."

"Now he understands their importance more, because he can see he's getting better and better in the GC standings. But the shoulder-to-shoulder jostling you get so often in the Tour — that's still not his thing," the Belgian adds. "If a crash happens anywhere, he's a pinball in a pinball machine. He brakes, and before you know it he's at the back."

"When you're fighting for his position as a teammate and he's dropped thirty places, it's very hard to bring him back to the front. That's why we've opted for the approach where I ride right behind him, so I can see exactly what he's doing."

"If he wants to sit at the back? Absolutely fine, no problem. But then you need to switch to firefighter mode: if a fire starts, it needs to be put out very, very quickly," says the ever-smiling Naesen, who — as always — has a gift for vivid metaphors.

"We have a kind of communication between us: when I tell him he really needs to follow, he has to genuinely follow and trust me completely. At the same time, that's also a button you can't keep pressing all day with Felix," the Belgian explains.

"That's also why we now have Gregor Mühlberger," Naesen continues, referring to Gall's fellow Austrian. "He's not only an exceptionally good helper on the climbs and the flat — he's also a friend, a confidant, a training partner, and someone who lives near where Felix lives. He's a really valuable person to have around."

Alongside the flat stages, Gall's time trialling has also been seen as a relative weakness — which sits in contrast to the strong equipment Decathlon have at their disposal. "Felix has also done a huge amount of work with the team on his time trial position, I know that. He used to lock up a bit. The fact that his knees point slightly outwards is actually something we really should allow. When he does that, he produces the most power," Naesen laughs. "But I don't really have precise insight into the details of that."

Gall himself is indeed hoping to be in the mix for a podium, though he does flag one uncertainty about the organisation of the race. "I'm a little worried about bad weather — I have a strong preference for the heat — but this will be my first big goal of the season and I'm going into it with the intention of performing at a high level."

"Last year I targeted the Tour, and with the Giro and the Vuelta things change somewhat — the goal is to finish on the podium in at least one of those two races. That is the next step I've set myself in my career, and I believe this could be the right year to achieve it," he says. His team, for their part, are fully behind him.