After traversing a day of complete chaos and surviving what felt like 100 attacks from Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) should add a podium finish at the Vuelta a España to the one he already earned at the Giro d'Italia if he finishes stage 21 into Granada.
As the queen stage delivered in spades to Collado del Alguacil, it was the Ecuadorian, in typical fashion, who lit up the GC racing, attacking on nearly all of the four key climbs in an attempt to overhaul Gall's more than two-minute lead over him at the start.
Try, try, and try again, as he may, Gall always had the answer, and in the end, he actually managed to extend his lead over Carapaz and move away from race leader Enric Mas (Movistar) on the final, brutal climb, capping off 20 more excellent days of racing in 2026.
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"We maybe got caught a bit off guard with the crosswinds at the start. It was maybe a bit of a slap, a wake-up call, then Movistar slowed it down," said Gall, who was caught behind in one of the splits when racing exploded on an exposed, straight road with 175km to go.
"We did think about going for the stage today, or trying to control it, but with losing Matthew [Riccitello], then just with five riders left, we said we'd sit in the wheels and see. And as expected, Richie [Carapaz] was making it pretty hard for me and then on the final climb, I just wanted to finish on a strong note here. For sure I'm happy; a super tough day."
Someone will likely need to show Gall a replay of the stage when his legs and head are back at full strength, as he summed up his impressive display of defence – best shown at the summit of the first time up Puerto de el Purche, where Carapaz exploded things into life with just under 100 to go – as "boring."
Having failed to get the gap he wanted and been foiled at every attempt by an undying Gall, who was more than a worthy opponent, Carapaz had no regrets about his tactics, set to finish the Vuelta in fourth after proving to be the master animator in these past few days.
"[In the] final, I had nothing to lose and lots to win; the team did great, tried to race a different kind of race, not just waiting for the end, happy with how I did," said Carapaz to reporters at the line.
"Especially the first two attacks, they really hurt," said Gall when asked about the swashbuckling Ecuadorian. "He's so explosive; he knows exactly when and how to do it.
"Then maybe it was a bit boring to watch, but I had to just sit on his wheel all day, and I didn't want to close a gap on him again. You don't let that guy, such a strong rider, get up the road."
Gall didn't read too much into finishing 17 seconds quicker than Mas up the final climb, reasoning that "He has a bit of a cushion he can work with, so maybe he didn't want to put himself into too much pain, but of course it's nice to finish like that," but he could take pride in that; if he is to make it safely to the line near the Alhambra tomorrow, that will almost finish his season off with two elite Grand Tour performances to his name.
"First we have to finish tomorrow's stage, but I mean it's been a super good season so far; if I finish tomorrow," said Gall, with a hilly route potentially offering a final chance to come unstuck on Sunday.
"The big goal was to fight for a podium in a Grand Tour, and I managed to do it in Giro, which went super well, and I'm really happy I was able to be in such good shape here again. Just very happy and I think good for my development."
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