Two years ago he was a valuable outsider, this year he is rightfully listed among the favorites of the Tour of the Alps 2025 (21-25 April): in two years, Felix Gall has transformed from a promising Austrian cyclist to an international cycling reality, a reference point for his Decathlon-AG2R team when the road starts to climb.

For Felix, who made his mark with the general public at the 2023 Tour of the Alps, the stage race in the Euregio offers a double suggestion this year: exactly 40 years ago, in 1985, the Austrian flag conquered the top podium step of the Giro del Trentino for the first and only time, thanks to Harald Maier.

A drought that has persisted since then, even with the transition to the new Euroregional format starting in 2017, and which Gall could try to break precisely on the roads where he grew up, those of Eastern Tyrol: the #TotA 2025 will be decided on Friday, April 25th in Lienz, Osttirol, just five kilometers from Nußdorf-Debant, where Felix was born on February 27, 1998.

For Felix Gall, the approach to the Tour of the Alps has already begun: "It will be a special race, I can already feel the anticipation. In reality, few riders have the fortune in their career to compete in a race suited to their characteristics on home roads, where they train, and have a real chance of aiming for a full result. I'll try to play this chance to the best of my abilities."

In 2023, it was the Tour of the Alps that gave Gall the confidence to race head-to-head with the best interpreters of world cycling: after a stage victory narrowly missed in Alpbach and a #TotA raced as a protagonist, he went on to win the queen stage of the Tour of Switzerland and later the alpine stage of a Tour de France where he finished eighth overall.

"The #TotA 2023 was a turning point - Gall confirms - a truly special experience: racing in front of friends and family, feeling such great support along the roads, doesn't happen every day. Of course, you have to deal with a few more expectations, but it's something that pushes me to bring out the best in myself."

"The Tour of the Alps will conclude my first part of the season. I've already raced Paris-Nice and I'm competing in the Volta a Catalunya, after which I'll take a few days off at home in Eastern Tyrol to prepare myself best for the #TotA challenge" - he continued. - "The last two stages will take place on my training roads, but I don't rule out going to check the finish of some other stages to be truly ready."

In his assault on the Green Melinda Jersey, Gall will certainly be supported by a team up to the task: in 2024, the Decathlon-Ag2R Team stood out as the most brilliant squad on the roads of the Trentino-Alto Adige-Tyrol Euregio. Among the athletes expected at the start will also be French climber Geoffrey Bouchard, winner of the KOM classification at the 2019 Vuelta a España and the 2021 Giro d'Italia, and first leader of the #TotA 2022 after surprising the competition at the Trentino finish in Fiera di Primiero.

"Even though the lineup is not yet official, I will certainly have the support of strong climbers capable of setting the pace. A team able to race as a protagonist, of this I have no doubt."

From April 21st to 25th, Tyrol will be a single great voice ready to push him towards the finish line: Felix Gall is ready to chase his dream on home roads, where every triumph has an even deeper meaning.