Interview Felix Gall: The Tour fifth-placer from Austria wants to finish on the podium

About Felix Gall (Austria)

TOUR: Felix, you established yourself as a top-class rider last year. Do you still live in the middle of the mountains in the Lienz basin in East Tyrol - or have you, like many professional cyclists, now sought a warmer domicile in the south?

FELIX GALL: No warmer, but I've been at home in Salzburg since the end of 2025.

Why did you choose Salzburg?

I've always liked it there. My new team-mate Gregor Mühlberger is now also at home there. The airport is closer. And my girlfriend plays the clarinet, she's a classical musician - and that's rather difficult to practise in Lienz. I needed that little push from her. I'm very, very glad that I made the cut. And it's something different to train for. I'm thrilled and feel very comfortable.

Your girlfriend is also from East Tyrol?

No, she comes from America, from Minnesota. She moved to me in Lienz in April (2025). If she's coming to Lienz from America, then I can go from Lienz to Salzburg, I thought to myself.

How did you get to know each other?

Professional cyclists get around a lot - but not necessarily to Minnesota. Yes, that's a funny story. My friend finished her music degree in New York in spring 2024, then she fell while rollerblading at home with her parents in Minnesota, broke her hand and had to cancel her planned gigs. She was in pain, but her father said: "Stop complaining, you're going to sit in front of the TV with me and we'll watch Tour de France documentaries.

And then a smart Tyrolean drove through the picture?

I then appeared on the television. And she wrote to me straight away on my Instagram profile. I woke up one day and saw the message: "Marry me!" It was after the first night at the altitude training camp in Isola 2000, a week before the Tour de France 2024. I was a bit sceptical, but wrote back a few hours later. And since then we've written every day and met for the first time after the Tour. And since last April (2025), she has been with me permanently.

And - are you getting married?

We are not there yet.

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Can you enlighten us - is it normal for professional cyclists to be contacted by fans and to choose a partner online?

It was a funny coincidence with my friend Maya. I don't want to have a fan as my partner. But Instagram certainly plays a role these days. As a professional cyclist, you're on the road a lot. And it's not that easy to get to know someone because you're on a training camp somewhere, don't have the energy or time or are so focussed.

Let's be clear: it pays off in many ways if you make a conspicuous appearance at the Tour de France like you did. Here's a question: do you know who Adolf Christian was?

Was that some Austrian cyclist a long time ago?

That's right. He was the best Austrian to date in the Tour de France. He came third overall in 1957. He then became Sportsman of the Year in his home country, equal on points with skiing legend Toni Sailer. Is that a motivation: to become the best Austrian in Tour history, to make it onto the Tour de France podium?

It's definitely a dream. There's just something very special about standing on the podium in Paris. This year's top five was very, very good. I'm very satisfied and everything went more or less perfectly. The big goal for this year, the logical step then, is the podium at the Giro and Vuelta. You can perhaps take a bit more of an offensive approach there.

Why did you choose these two races in your race planning for 2026?

I've only ridden the Giro once. It was my first Grand Tour in 2022 and back then I wasn't anywhere near the level I'm at now. I'm a bit curious to see how it will go. I've ridden the Vuelta twice, but each time with the pre-load of the Tour de France. It's a race that suits me very well, in terms of the characteristics, with the heat, which I can cope with well. It appeals to me to tackle it with really optimal preparation.

There are no plans for you to take part in the Tour de France in 2026. How sad is that for you?

A good way for me to try something else with the goal of a Grand Tour podium at the Giro or Vuelta. And then maybe I'll return to the Tour with the goal of the overall classification and podium.
Although it would also be an incentive for me to chase stages in the Tour de France.

How hard and how nice was the last tour for you personally?

You experience all the emotions that the spectrum has to offer in the three weeks. Compared to 2024, when I didn't have the best preparation and we, including me personally of course, wanted a bit too much, we did very well in 2025. We said we'd just make sure I did as well as possible by the first rest day. So it didn't stress me out mentally. I was pretty calm, which wasn't quite the case in the past. And of course I'm getting stronger and stronger or simply more resistant, I'm recovering better, I'm coping with the stress better. And I've simply gained more confidence, I've become a bit calmer.

We conducted our last interview on the way to Paris at the 2023 Tour. Back then, in addition to the joy of winning the stage on the Col de la Loze, we talked about the stress of having to be the leader and bring success to the finish line. You have indicated that you want to work on yourself in this regard. What has happened in the meantime?

I tried a few new mental approaches in 2024. That didn't quite work. It took more energy than it helped me. And since 2025, I've had a new mental coach who I'm now working with. I've realised that I don't really need to reinvent myself. I am who I am. I have my strengths and weaknesses. I accept that and don't drive myself crazy when I lose something. I am aware of what I am good at. Like resilience, this is a strength that comes with age. You find good routines, like sleeping.

Do you have an example?

In the past, I've used caffeine gel quite often during races. That worked well, but it's not really sustainable over three weeks. It delays recovery. You don't sleep as well, you're a bit more restless. When I don't take caffeine now, I sleep much better, I'm calmer and my mind is more relaxed.

You emphasise that you have learned to accept yourself as you are. You stand out with your riding style because you pedal with your knees wide apart.

Yes, when I'm really at my absolute limit. But maybe not only then, it's just my physique. We've fitted a small spacer to the pedals and the Q-factor (the distance between the pedals; editor's note) enlarged. Let's see if that brings my knees a little more into the centre. But it's nature for me, I also sit relatively upright. I feel most comfortable on the climbs, but I do lose a few watts and I'm not quite as efficient as someone else. There is no real miracle cure. The body is what it is.

Does the knee position not cause pain?

No, not at all. I don't have any problems. I am symptom-free.

You can be considered a late starter who only showed your potential in the professional ranks after your mid-20s. When you became junior world champion at 17, Tadej Pogačar, who like you was born in 1998, had a DNF in the world championship results list - he didn't finish. He also didn't deliver any noticeable results in the juniors. Do you have any explanations as to why the two of you developed so differently?

Not really. Marc Hirschi was also a good junior and then won a stage extremely early on in the Tour (in 2020; editor's note). And that also stressed me out a bit. It simply took me longer. I didn't cope quite as well with the switch to the U23 and elite classes. Things didn't really progress for me. I was often a bit ill. And I don't think my body was really ready to race at such a level. Everyone goes their own way.

As a junior, did you have the feeling that this small and delicate Slovenian could one day be the man compared to Eddy Merckx and dominate professional cycling in a way that hasn't been seen for decades?

No. I think the first time he really showed something was at the U23 Peace Ride (then GP Priesnitz, in 2018; editor's note)which he won on the last day, solo. He surprised everyone a bit. And he won the Tour de l'Avenir (also 2018) won. After that, things went up rapidly. But as a junior, he wasn't the high-flyer.

You picked up speed much later. It's noticeable that you blossomed massively when you moved to your current team. What were the details that helped you realise your potential?

It was a great time at DSM as an U23 rider, but somehow not as a pro. I didn't make any progress. I just didn't have the consistency. And then we also had different views about my future. It was just a frustrating time. I no longer knew what I was really capable of, what I really wanted, where my place was.

The change for the 2022 season has changed everything?

It was very important that I found a team that believed in me. Right from the start, they saw something in me that I didn't believe in myself. That was exactly what I needed at the time. There was confidence in me and I found fun again. They believed I could achieve top ten results in certain races - but I'd never finished in the top ten in a professional race before. I now listen to my body and know what is good for me. And then I agree this with my coach Stephen Barrett.

Where did your current French team get these indications of your potential?

I'm surprised too. But it really was a bit of the Junior World Championship title that still resonated. And my values were also okay or good.

As a racing cyclist, you are a class rider. Due to the power density, a tough dictate of the watts per kilogramme ratio now applies to performance on the mountain. So you have to pay a lot of attention to weight. How difficult is that, how much sacrifice does it mean?

I don't have to flagellate myself quite so much to get the last kilo off. I'm relatively stable. In the off-season, I'm a maximum of two or three kilos over tour weight. When I'm not training, my metabolism kind of goes to sleep and I don't have a huge feeling of hunger. In the important phase from January, at the latest in the altitude training camp, I really write down everything I eat and put everything on the scales. It's an extra effort, but then it's no longer an unknown. If you don't feel so good, there's no guesswork as to whether you've trained too much or eaten too little. You can check.

You were considered a great talent early on. Now you have Paul Seixas in your team, who has already achieved top results at the age of 18, has been showered with praise and is already being tipped as a future winner of the Tour de France in France. How do you see that?

I find the hype a bit frightening. But of course I can understand it, because he has already achieved incredible, historic things at such a young age: Top ten at the Tour of Lombardy, for example, or at the Dauphiné. It's very, very impressive and he definitely has incredible potential. It's still too early to tell how far that will take him.

Their team has been significantly strengthened for the new season. Decathlon has signed top Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij, who is set to make his debut at the Tour. Plus the strong climber Matthew Riccitello, fifth in the Vuelta. How does that change your role in the team?

I think my team is developing very, very well. We have big goals. There is also a lot of talk, but there is also a lot of action. I like the fact that Olav has the stress on the tour. It's a shared responsibility now. If we want to become a top team, if we want to go even higher, then we need a few leaders: top sprinters and very, very good climbers.

What dreams do you still have in cycling?

Certainly a Grand Tour podium, a Tour de France podium, maybe even a yellow jersey, that's a special dream. I've already won a Tour stage, which is very difficult. I'd love to do that again - it's just something really special.