Important Tour test

Gall watched Tour stages before the classics

Cycling star Felix Gall watched two Tour stages during the race break before Liège-Bastogne-Liège.(Bild: Felix Gall)

Premiere for Felix Gall: Austria's cycling star will be at the start of Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the first time on Sunday. The East Tyrolean wants to try his luck as a breakaway rider. However, the climber is already focusing on the Tour de France. He watched two stages this week.

Felix Gall used a short break from racing to watch two stages of the Tour de France 2024. Austria's Tour hero took a look at the time trial route (stage 7) and also rode the gravel stage, which is controversial among many professional cyclists. The undulating section around Troyes (stage 9) includes 14 gravel sectors with a total length of 32.2 kilometers. "It will be a super stressful day. You can't win the Tour there, but you can certainly lose it. I'm very happy that I now know what to expect," said the East Tyrolean, who has not yet contested a single gravel race like Strade Bianche.

I'll see if I can keep up with the first attacks before the big names leave.

Rad-Star Felix Gall vor Lüttich-Bastogne-Lüttich

A premiere awaits Gall on Sunday. The 26-year-old will be competing in Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the first time, with Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy taking over the captain's role in the Decathlon-AG2R team. "I'll make sure that I can keep up with the first attacks before the big names leave," reveals Austria's Sportsman of the Year.

Pfannberger with a record result
Perhaps Felix will be able to pull off a hussar ride in the Ardennes classic similar to his stage win on the queen stage of the Tour de France last year. In 2008, Christian Pfannberger achieved the best ÖRV result to date in the oldest cycling race in the world with fifth place.

Megaduell van der Poel against Pogacar
Cycling fans at "La Doyenne" are particularly looking forward to the mega duel between Dutch world champion Mathieu van der Poel and two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar. The lightweight Slovenian has the advantage on the 4000 meters of altitude, but "MVDP" is also a speed demon and can quickly ride over hills.

Last race in spring
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is Gall's last race of the spring, after which the climber will start preparing for the Tour of France: "I have a week off, then I'm off to the altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada."