Gall self-critical: "We tried to force it too much"

Felix Gall lost a few seconds to leader Enric Mas on the first stage without Tadej Pogacar.

The Decathlon team, with Austrians Gall and his valuable domestique Gregor Mühlberger, dominated the entire 9th stage of the Vuelta.

"Today, we perhaps tried to force it a bit too much," Gall summarized.

Cannot keep pace on the final climb

50km before the finish, the Decathlon team began to take over the lead work. On the final climb, the 28-year-old wanted to take the initiative himself.

On the last mountain, the Austrian attempted several attacks. However, he failed to shake off his rivals, including Enric Mas, Oscar Onley, and Primoz Roglic.

Gall said he "invested too much" in his attacks. "It's not the worst day - I ran out of a bit of gas," Gall concluded in an interview with "Eurosport".

Spaniard's attack too strong

Just under two kilometers from the finish, Mas attacked - no one could follow the local hero. Ultimately, Gall lost 18 seconds to the leader.

In the general classification, Gall, currently third, is 1 minute 39 seconds behind the Spaniard. Today is the first rest day of the Vuelta for the cycling pros.

A Grand Tour victory would be historic. Before Gall's podium finish at the Giro d'Italia in May, no Austrian had ever made it onto the podium in one of the three major Grand Tours.