By Julien Pretot
SAINT GERVAIS, France (Reuters) – Up until this year, Felix Gall did not have his own home and saw cycling as a way to explore the world, but after joining French team AG2R-Citroen, the Austrian has had to mature and settle down in order to improve his racing prospects.
Gall left the DSM reserve team for AG2R-Citroen last year, and the 25-year-old is now leading the team at the Tour de France, looking to become the first Austrian in the top 10 of the race since Georg Totschnig in 2004.
Gall got his own apartment in his hometown of Nussdorf-Debant in the Tyrol region and has been easing down on the nomadic lifestyle, although he has not yet settled in Spain, Andorra or Italy like most professional riders.
“I’ve been to Malaga a few times, to Gran Canaria and also the team camps (in Spain),” Gall, a golf enthusiast, told Reuters.
“I just go from place to place, renting apartments, I can feel free like this. For now, I’m pretty happy with the last years and how I did it. Maybe South Africa would be also nice.”
Gall, the 2015 junior world champion, burst into the limelight at the Tour de Suisse when he won the fourth stage after a solo attack in the mountains.
He was picked to ride the Tour de France in support of Ben O’Connor and it took him some time to adjust, although he showed great form right away.
On the second stage, in the tough climb to the Cote de Pike in the Basque country, he was tasked with staying with O’Connor on the steep ascent.
In the middle of the bunch, he saw team mate Clement Berthet and asked him: “where is the steep climb?”
“We’re right in it,” the Frenchman answered, and Gall realised he was not where he as supposed to be.
It became quickly obvious that O’Connor would not deliver and Gall was promoted to team leader.
“It’s been really long but I think so far I can be satisfied except the first two stages when I was blocked and didn’t have the legs,” he said.
“Otherwise I have a really steady level and I think I can be satisfied, that’s what I was hoping for.”
The soft-spoken Gall has also been quick to adjust to riding as a team leader, having all his team mates at his service.
“Overall it’s a bit more stressful and I feel a bit more pressure,” he said.
“But I have the team around me, it’s really nice how the guys support me during the stages, there is always someone taking care of me. I can trust them, they’re here for me and I don’t have to worry.”
In the toughest mountain stages, Gall was one of the last to be dropped by the leading duo of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard and Wednesday’s punishing stage to Courchevel could send him into the top 10.
He is now 11th overall, 21 seconds behind 10th-placed Guillaume Martin and 32 behind ninth-placed David Gaudu.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
