Image: APA/Marco Bertorello
Felix Gall sensationally won the queen stage of the 110th Tour de France. The East Tyrolean triumphed on Wednesday on the 17th stage from Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel, which included more than 5,000 meters of altitude difference, ahead of Briton Simon Yates and Spaniard Pello Bilbao. Gall was the fourth Austrian to celebrate a stage win in the Tour of France after Max Bulla (three successes in 1931), Georg Totschnig (2005) and Patrick Konrad (2021).
In the overall ranking, the 25-year-old AG2R driver improved to eighth place (+16:11 minutes), in the battle for the mountain jersey, Gall is only six points behind the leader Giulio Ciccone. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, meanwhile, once again extended his lead after his power demonstration in yesterday’s time trial as fourth on the stage. The Dane is now 7:35 minutes ahead of opponent Tadej Pogacar, who had to give up about 15 kilometers before the finish and probably gave up any chance of winning the Tour.
“Winning the queen stage of the Tour de France is just incredible. The whole year has been incredible,” said Gall, who was fighting back tears. “I just want to say thank you to the team, they gave me so much.” With the success he has not fulfilled a “childhood dream”. “But a year ago I couldn’t have imagined that.”
Gall soon found himself in a breakaway group of around 30 around Bilbao, Yates and David Gaudu, who were ahead of him in the overall rankings. They started the dreaded 28.1 km climb to the Col de la Loze with a lead of around two and a half minutes over the group around Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
For a long time, Gall climbed on the rear wheel of teammate Ben O’Connor in the direction of the highest point of this year’s tour at 2,304 meters. 13 kilometers from the finish, the East Tyrolean launched the decisive attack and quickly tore up a gap to the first pursuers. Only Yates was able to keep the gap to Gall within limits, but was no longer able to intercept the Austrian on the subsequent descent and the steep, short final climb.
Many expected a retaliation from Pogacar on the queen stage, but the opposite happened as the race progressed. Shortly after the start of the 166-kilometer stage, Pogacar caused a moment of shock. The Slovenian fell after hitting the bike of the man in front. The 24-year-old suffered a cut on his right leg, but was able to continue the race.
About 15 kilometers from the finish, a visibly operated Pogacar had to tear away from Vingegaard. “I can’t take it anymore, I’m dead,” Pogacar radioed to his team car. Vingegaard reacted immediately and massively increased the pace. Even a motorcycle blocking the road slowed him down only briefly. The Dane would probably not have intercepted Gall even without the incident.
After the demanding days in the Alps, the cyclists can look forward to a more relaxed section of the 18th stage on Thursday. The mostly flat 184.9km is expected to ensure a bunch sprint before the finish line in Bourg-en-Bresse. Only two small category four climbs are pending.
Portrait of Felix Gall (from the first tour week):
Source: Nachrichten
