TOPS
The American (29 years old) was competing in his third grand tour of the year (12th in the Tour de France, 14th in the Giro). Starting in the shoes of a teammate, he rose to the top of the general classification on the evening of the 8th stage. And never returned his precious red jersey. He had to be strong to resist the ambition of his teammates, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard and the Slovenian Primoz Roglic who quickly became his biggest dangers. Manager Richard Plugge had to call a summit meeting to quell the desires of his leaders and allow Kuss to move towards his first major victory.
First American to win a Grand Tour since Christopher Horner (an unexpected victory, already, in the Vuelta in 2013). With a stage victory (6th), strong nerves and a luminous smile, Sepp Kuss who had to pinch himself for a long time to believe it, will have marked the edition and victoriously concluded the dream year of the Jumbo-Visma team, victorious in the Tour of Italy (Primoz Roglic), the Tour de France (Jonas Vingegaard) and the Tour of Spain. A great first. The famous Molteni, Renault-Gitane, Banesto or Sky had never achieved this.
Winner of the 2022 Tour of Spain, Remco Evenepoel dreamed of a resounding double. The queen stage of the Vuelta at the top of the Tourmalet was fatal. 27 minutes lost. He could have collapsed, disappeared, given up. The Belgian held on. Magnificent, he sought two new stage victories with the heart of a champion. Three in total. Accompanied by the mountain classification and the combativeness prize. Three remarkable weeks. 12th in the final general classification, he was able to make the event a strength, that of rebound.
7th in the 3rd stage, 2nd in the 6th stage, Lenny Martinez was propelled to the top of the general classification. Youngest rider to wear a leader’s jersey on a grand tour since 1904. He was competing in his first grand tour. Continuing a long family history. At 20 years old, the son of Miguel (Olympic mountain bike champion in 2000), the grandson of Mariano (best climber of the 1978 Tour, 3rd in the 1974 world championship behind Eddy Merckx and Raymond Poulidor). Affected by a virus and deprived of legs for several days, the rest, after two days in red, proved more complicated for the young climber.
In the end, an honorable place in the general classification (24th at 1h21’41” from Sepp Kuss) at the end of an event during which the young climber from the Groupama-FDJ team learned a lot. His teammate Romain Grégoire (20 years old), also eagerly awaited, was able to show the tip of his nose (2nd of the 11th stage). To be continued. The bright smile and emotion of his TotalEnergies teammates on the day of the sprint stage victory in Oliva (7th stage) of Geoffrey Soupe (35 years old) will remain in the edition album. The model teammate won his first World Tour victory, the reward for his self-sacrifice and loyalty. A symbolic victory. And, as in the Giro (Aurélien Paret-Peintre) and the Tour (Victor Lafay), the French won a stage victory on a grand tour in 2023.
FLOPS
The Dutch team, as in the Giro and the Tour, dominated the Vuelta, monopolized the podium in Madrid (Sepp Kuss ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic), signing a hat-trick forgotten in the Tour of Spain since the Kas formation in 1966 The team’s 7th grand tour victory is a perfect move. A triumph, however, fraught with tensions which may have arisen from poorly contained ambitions. It took the intervention of Richard Plugge, the manager, for Sepp Kuss to be named the future winner. Sky had experienced comparable tensions between Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome on the 2012 Tour. Ultra-domination can be complicated to manage. Jumbo-Visma’s control over the grand tours is making waves, fueling criticism and fueling suspicion, but the Dutch team is hardly moved by it. She continues her collection of hits. More formidable than ever. And when lieutenants rise to the level of leaders, there isn’t much room left for others. Cycling, tested by doping cases, fears excessive domination. On this point, as on others, Jumbo-Visma gives cause for debate.
From the time trial of the 1st stage completed in the dark for the last teams to the assistant of the Jumbo-Visma team violently tackled to the ground by police officers at the finish of the 18th stage, the incredible finish of the 3rd stage, twisted, crowded, invaded by spectators causing the fall of Remco Evenepoel who did not have time to decelerate after winning the stage, the organizers of the Vuelta were repeatedly overtaken. Spectacular, open, high up, the Vuelta has assets, personality, but the third of the grand tours in the calendar and in the hierarchy saw repeated failures tarnish the whole.
The British team set up with ambition on the starting line in Barcelona. Ambitious behind Geraint Thomas, designated leader. Filippo Ganna, winner of the only time trial of the Vuelta, hit the mark in Valladolid (10th stage). For the rest, the team (diminished by the withdrawals of the Dutchman Thymen Artensman and the Belgian Laurens De Plus) was never able to rise to the height of its desires. The Welshman finished in an anonymous 31st place. The Colombian Egan Bernal completed the exercise in 55th place.
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