Road racing fans have followed a dramatic Vuelta a España for the past few weeks. It began with a rain-slicked TTT starting block in waning daylight, and it ended with American Sepp Kuss of Team Jumbo-Visma as the surprise winner!
Related: read “An Interview with Sepp Kuss On Alpe du Zwift” >
Kuss began the race as a super domestique, having completed this year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France where teammates Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard took home respective wins. Roglic and Vingegaard were both in the Vuelta, and both were considered top podium contenders.
Nobody expected an overall win from Sepp, “The Eagle of Durango.” But many fans had suspected “GC Kuss” was capable of such an achievement.
Once he got into the breakaway and took the red jersey, the world wanted to see him keep it. (When have we last seen cycling fans was so galvanized around a single rider?) Despite some strategic snafus, Jumbo-Visma eventually boarded the unstoppable GC Kuss train, supporting him to victory and becoming the first team in history to win all three grand tours in one year.
Kuss is the first American in 10 years to win a grand tour (Chris Horner won the Vuelta in 2013).
Tomorrow, he’ll will be doing a victory lap (several, actually) on Zwift. Join in and message him your congratulations! The ride takes place at 12:30pm UTC (7:30am EDT/4:30am PDT).
This is a 45-minute ride at a social pace (1-2.5W/kg). We’ll be on the Volcano Circuit route in Watopia.
Jumbo-Vismas Grand Tours Trilogy 🏆🏆🏆 was outstanding … and Sepps amazing GC win was super surprising and well deserved in one.
Besides, I pray for a Jersey unlock (of the in-game kit “TdF Edition ’23”) because I didn’t have the chance to take part at Jonas’ Victory Ride in July.
Ride on cycling fans all over the world 😎🙋🏻♂️
This is awesome. Awesome that Zwift hosting this, unfortunately I can’t it.
It’s a shame he only joined for 15 minutes!
Sepp Kuss as a GC rider on Jumbo isn’t going to be an everyday thing. And reality is that he is not as strong as Joans or Roglic 90% of the time. However, with full leads of a GT team and a good training block he could win a Vuelta or just maybe a Giro. I don’t think as far as fitness and lack of pure explosion of guys like Joans, Roglic, Remco (bad day cost him) and a few others that he can win the TDF. On a different team, with good domestics he could perhaps control a stage race and be in a GC position. On Jumbo, he has yet to be in that type position. As we saw him attacked by his own team, even if they claim they wanted him to win the Vuelta. I think until the team meeting after Roglic and Joans took off and left him on a big climb they were considering putting Roglic or Joans in the lead. As it turned out, the plan didn’t work. And then the team director stepped in and ordered Joans and Roglic to work for Sepp ONLY. No attacks and no riding away if fell back. Joans seems to have been the backs to Sepp and that’s why after the meeting he was marking attacks and helping Sepp. Until then, I think the plan was to get Joans in the red jersey IF Sepp faltered.
I hope everybody held back and let him win.
Would have been hilarious if Roglic joined up and outsprinted him to the line…