During the end-of-year holidays, the sports editorial team of Le Figaro brings you a series on the “robbers” of the sports year, these personalities or entities not necessarily expected and who have been talked about in 2023. Today, the magnificent performance of Sepp Kuss in the Tour of Spain.
Unexpected. Completely. On August 26, 2023, in Barcelona, Sepp Kuss takes the start of the Tour of Spain in the shoes of a luxury teammate – as usual – for his two designated leaders, Jonas Vingegaard, recent winner of the Tour de France, and Primoz Roglic, who won the Tour of Italy a few months earlier. Three weeks later, the American crossed the finish line of the twenty-first and final stage with the “rojo” jersey on his back. And won, to everyone’s surprise, the last Grand Tour of the season…ahead of his teammates, the Dane finishing second, and the Slovenian third.
This success is that of opportunism, of cycling somewhere. On the sixth stage, taking advantage of the fact that the peloton split in two due to the wind, many people took to their heels. Among them ? Sepp Kuss. He, who doesn’t often have the opportunity to seize his chance, sensed the blow – that’s what we call having flair. Within the breakaway, the Jumbo-Visma rider is not the best placed in the general classification, but he is, with Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich), one of the best climbers. Quite logically, in the final climb, he manages to get rid of all his opponents, and in particular the surprising Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) to raise his arms… However, he does not wear red, the leader’s jersey going to the young Frenchman for a few seconds. It was only a postponement for the then 28-year-old runner. Indeed, two days later, at the end of a steep stage, he outdistanced the neo-professional pocket climber and took the “rojo” tunic, with a significant lead over the favorites including his own leaders. He won’t let go of her until Madrid. It must be said that as the days went by, and especially after the failure of the defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), there were no longer many who could challenge him for the final victory. Concretely, there were only two of them: Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic.
And for a time, the winners of the first two Grand Tours of the season – especially the Slovenian – seemed to play their personal card, distancing the American on several occasions, even threatening his first place…while They occupied second and third positions in the general classification. A rather embarrassing attitude from an outside point of view: “I think he deserves a little more respect – not necessarily from the other riders – but from his own team,” regretted Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) at a few days before the end of the Vuelta Ciclista a España. Finally, by decision of the management of Jumbo-Visma – bad publicity? –, the Dane and the Slovenian stopped putting a spoke in the wheels of Sepp Kuss in order to allow him to win in this Tour of Spain; and to ensure that the Dutch team wins the three Grand Tours of the season with three different riders.
This success is also that of merit. Perhaps not in its purely sporting conception since Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic were (certainly) a leg above him. But in its virtuous form, in the sense that it is (largely) worthy of being rewarded. Indeed, the climber born in Durango (Colorado), has long (always?) been confined to the role of teammate for his leaders – he has also helped Primoz Roglic on the Tour of Italy and Jonas Vingegaard on the Tour of France – and this, even if he had (already) proven that he could be one of the very best as soon as the road gets higher. Without ever flinching, always with enthusiasm, he has devoted himself to others in recent seasons, putting aside his personal ambitions to serve the collective. So, seeing him win one of the best races of the year, after his past efforts, is something satisfying. It is somehow well deserved. Especially since if it is difficult to “fight” against rivals, it is even more difficult against teammates: “Before, we did not know that the three of us were going to be the strongest in this race and that made things a bit complicated because normally your teammates are not your rivals. Teammates as strong as Jonas and Primoz were strong and wanted to win. It’s not easy,” he explained to Marca just before the end of the Tour of Spain. He is undoubtedly the “robber” of the year in cycling. Will he be able to do it again next year?
