“I would never have believed that I would achieve all of this. This is so far beyond expectations that it will take me even longer to realize it. This opens up completely new possibilities for the future,” said Gall after the tour ended in July. Quite a few former cycling heroes, companions and other experts predict a glorious future for him.
In addition to winning the queen stage, the ex-junior world champion also impressed with two further podium places; his eighth place in the final ranking and second position in the mountains classification have never been achieved by any Austrian on a tour in over 100 years of history.
APA/AFP/Marco Bertorello Felix Gall attracted interest at the Tour de France
Gall stays on the ground
Gall has already been one of the world’s best, but he only really took off in the spring. Nobody expected that he would catapult himself so high on the biggest stage possible. Neither did Gall himself, which is why even he commented on what had been achieved with a certain degree of incredulity.
But he now knows for sure why the tour is called the “Tour of Torment”. “You think you suffer the most, but everyone else suffers the same. It’s also ups and downs emotionally.”
Positive balance after the multi-World Cup
The next positive headlines came from Austria’s cyclists at the Multi-Cycling World Championships in Scotland with two gold, three silver and nine bronze medals. The highlights from a local perspective were the mountain bike gold medals from Valentina Höll (downhill) and Mona Mitterwallner (cross-country marathon), the surprising bronze medal in the road time trial from Christina Schweinberger and silver from Andreas Kolb in the downhill.
APA/AFP/Oli Scarff Mitterwallner won gold in the cross-country marathon with an impressive performance
Höll, who recently turned 22, also defended her downhill title. Just a few hours later, Kolb also raced to silver in the men’s downhill race. For last year’s European champion, it was the first precious metal at a world championship.
A day later, the 21-year-old from Mitterwall provided the next highlight from an Austrian perspective. The Tyrolean won the gold medal in the cross-country marathon in Glentress Forest in a superior manner. The 21-year-old then had to settle for fourth place in the Olympic cross-country competition.
IMAGO/Sirotti/Photo reporter Stefano Schweinberger was overwhelmed after winning the bronze medal in the time trial
Schweinberger shines at the World Cup
Road cyclist Schweinberger pulled off the biggest surprise of the World Cup. The 26-year-old Tyrolean sensationally won the bronze medal in the individual time trial over 36.2 kilometers. On the final day, Schweinberger almost surprised everyone with more precious metal by finishing fifth in the road race. In fifth place, she set the Austrian Cycling Association’s (ÖRV) best result to date in a professional World Championship road race after Harald Maier’s fifth place in Italy in 1985.
