Sepp Kuss’ 2026 Vuelta a España hadn’t gone to plan ahead of 20th and penultimate stage, but the American seized an opportunity presented on a crazy day of racing in Andalucia to vault into the top-five on General Classification.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was sitting in 11th place ahead of the stage, more than eleven minutes down on race leader Enric Mas, but just five minutes away from Netcompany-Ineos’ Oscar Onley in fifth place.
More than 50 riders attacked away from the Movistar-led peloton in the early stages of the day, including the entire Visma-Lease a Bike team, minus Kuss.
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As Onley and others ahead of him in the standings began to suffer on the first of four major climbs which would characterise the day, Kuss’ chance to move up presented itself.
He attempted a move on the first ascent of the Puerto de el Purche but was brought back. A second move the second time up the climb was more effective.
Kuss quickly built a lead over a stalling red jersey group, picking up team-mates as he went who would be able to pace him all the way. Ahead of the final climb, the Collado del Alguacil, it was Wout van Aert driving things for Kuss. On the climb itself, young Norwegian prospect Jørgen Nordhagen pulled Kuss all the way to the line, finishing eighth on the stage behind veteran Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep).
The plan had worked. Kuss moved ahead of Onley and others and sits in fifth place ahead of the final stage in Granada, 8:45 behind Mas (Movistar).
“Hats off to the team. We had a plan, and it was just like the stars aligning in every moment of the race,” Kuss told reporters after the stage.
“Every single guy on the team had a part in it. That’s how we race as a team. That’s our identity. It was just amazing being part of it.”
“I had goosebumps the whole day, and it’s just fun to go out and race. Most of this race I’ve kind of had a bittersweet feeling, I’ve just not been able to race like I wanted…but today I really enjoyed. It was like a playground out there with all these steep climbs.”
2023 Vuelta a España winner Kuss revealed that the team had been discussing for several days how they could enable him to move up the rankings.
The unpredictable nature of the stage no doubt played into Visma-Lease a Bike’s hands, but the team executed their strategy to perfection.
“From the days before, we knew that I wouldn’t be able to just jump in the early break. The plan was to go for the stage win, but you can never control the distance the break has. Already before the first time on Purche, there was a really big gap.”
“I had nothing to lose. I knew I had a bunch of strong teammates ahead, so I just went all-in on the first climb, and yeah, the guys were amazing. It never felt like I was alone.”
