Everything about Sepp Kuss

Sepp Kuss (born September 13, 1994) is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI World Tour Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Kuss is a talented climber who has taken stage victories in the Tour de France and Vuelta a España and is an overall winner in the latter.

Name: Sepp Kuss
Birthday: September 13, 1994
Birthplace: Durango, Colorado, United States
Turned pro: 2016
Height: 1.82m

Sepp Kuss is an American cyclist born September 13, 1994 in Durango, Colorado, which currently makes him 29 years old. Kuss grew up in an athletic environment and began his career as a mountain biker before switching to road cycling. He is known for his strong climbing abilities and is often used as a key domestique in mountain stages.

Kuss rides for team Team Visma | Lease a Bike, where he has developed into one of the most valuable climbers in the peloton. He plays a crucial role in supporting his teammates in Grand Tours, such as the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta a España, where he himself took the overall victory in 2023.Little is publicly known about his personal life, but he is known as a modest and hard-working rider. His salary is estimated at around €1.5 million a year.

Sepp Kuss began his professional cycling career in 2017 with American team Rally Cycling. In his first year as a pro, he impressed mainly in smaller North American races, where he showed his talent as a climber. This caught the eye of larger teams, and an important step in his career soon followed.

In 2018 , Kuss made the switch to WorldTour team LottoNL-Jumbo, which would later become Jumbo-Visma. This was the year in which he rode his first grand tours, including the Vuelta a España. Here he showed his potential as one of the best climbers in the peloton, which resulted in strong performances in the mountains. Kuss also won a stage in the USA Pro Challenge that year, marking his first major victory in Europe.

The year 2019 was a breakthrough year for Kuss. He became an indispensable force within Jumbo-Visma and played a crucial role as a master servant for Primož Roglič in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In the Vuelta, Kuss won a tough mountain stage, earning him international acclaim and further cementing his reputation as a climber.

In 2020 , Kuss continued to develop and became even more important to his team. He helped Roglič to his second consecutive victory at the Vuelta a España and was a key player at the Tour de France, where Roglič finished second. Kuss himself finished strongly in the top-15 overall at the Tour, which was an impressive achievement for a rider in his role.

The year 2021 brought even more success for Kuss. He won his first Tour de France stage, permanently establishing his name as one of the best climbers in the peloton. In addition, he continued to play a crucial role as a master rider in both the Tour and the Vuelta, where he again contributed to Roglič's final victory.

In 2022 , Kuss remained one of the main forces in the mountains for Jumbo-Visma. He participated in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, supporting his leaders in crucial moments. Although he did not win any victories himself, his contribution to the team remained invaluable.

The year 2023 proved to be the highlight of Kuss' career. He won the Vuelta a España, his first major tour, after a thrilling battle with his teammates Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard. This victory confirmed his status as one of the best climbers in the world and marked an important milestone in his career.

In 2024 the American had a modest start of the season, not achieving many results in the opening months of the season but riding to the KOM classification at Itzulia Basque Country. His plan was to race the Tour-Vuelta double, but he got Covid-19 and abandoned the Criterium du Dauphiné; and due to his lack of form missed the Tour. He returned to win the Vuelta a Burgos however.

2025 was a come back year for Kuss in some way, having missed out on performance in the first half of the year but finding his form after a long time at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Like Jonas Vingegaard's other right-hand men Matteo Jorgenson and Victor Campenaerts, Kuss rode the Dauphiné, Tour de France and Vuelta a España in support of the Dane. And he looked like his form was improving by the month.

He was 13th at the Dauphiné, at the Tour de France he had standout performances at the Mont Ventoux but above all the Col de la Madeleine on stage 19 where his acceleration in the GC group saw only Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar being able to follow, a mythical climbing performance when it mattered the most. And at the Vuelta Kuss not only found his form but consistency too, riding to a 7th place in the overall classification whilst supporting Vingegaard in his race to the red jersey, which Visma succeeded in. If it weren't for Vingegaard himself, the American may have even won the final mountain stage as he crossed the line at Bola del Mundo in second place.