Gall makes history with first Austrian Vuelta podium

Felix Gall secured third place overall at the Vuelta a España, becoming the first Austrian to finish on the podium of the Spanish Grand Tour, ORF reported. The result gives the Tyrolean his second Grand Tour podium of the 2026 season after his Giro d’Italia finish.

Only Spain’s Enric Mas and Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic finished ahead of the 28-year-old climbing specialist after top favourite Tadej Pogacar was forced out by a crash. Gall maintained his position ahead of the rest of the field during the three-week race.

The former junior world champion again relied on his strength in the mountains, which helped offset his weaknesses in time trials. He did not win a stage, just as he failed to do during his historic second-place finish at the Giro.

Gall’s Giro result in May made him the second Austrian, 69 years after Adolf Christian, to claim a podium finish in one of cycling’s three major stage races. His Vuelta result further underlines his status among the world’s best stage-race riders.

The final Vuelta standings saw Mas finish first in 70 hours, 56 minutes and 58 seconds, with Roglic 2:15 behind and Gall 2:44 behind the winner. Richard Carapaz was fourth at 6:54, followed by Sepp Kuss, Oscar Onley, Jakob Omrzel, Clement Berthet, Cristian Rodriguez and Harold Tejada.

Gall is expected to continue his career with Lidl-Trek next season. The announcement of the reported transfer is imminent, and the Austrian is set to join the German-licensed team on a lucrative contract. His teammate, training partner and key support rider Gregor Mühlberger is also expected to move with him after crashing out of the Vuelta with an injury.

Mühlberger played an important role in Gall’s fifth season with Decathlon, during which Gall won the Burgos stage race shortly before the Vuelta. Gall’s decision to focus on two widely separated season targets, combined with long breaks from racing and extensive altitude training under coach Stephen Barrett, also contributed to his results.

Unlike Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz, who crashed out of the Tour, Gall avoided injuries from crashes. He will conclude his season at the world road race championships in Canada in the week after next. The course’s numerous shorter climbs do not suit him as well, although targeted training has significantly improved his acceleration uphill this year.