BREAKING4 days ago
Mühlberger Crashes Out of Vuelta, Stripping Gall of His Lieutenant
Gregor Mühlberger abandoned the Vuelta a España on stage 13 after a crash. He was ninth overall at the time — not just a domestique, a GC rider in his own right, and Decathlon-CMA CGM just lost him with a week of climbing still to come.
What this means
Decathlon-CMA CGM has to rebuild Gall's mountain support from scratch for the final week, with the podium still within reach but no obvious replacement for the role Mühlberger played.
Mühlberger had spent all three weeks glued to Felix Gall on the mountains, the same role that helped Gall to second overall at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year. Gall now sits third overall, 2:06 behind Enric Mas, without the rider who's been his closest support since Decathlon-CMA CGM paired them at the start of the season. Losing a domestique is one thing; losing one who was also inside the top 10 himself is a different order of problem.