Introducing Sepp Kuss - Vuelta a Espana winner, mythical climber and generation-defining domestique

Sepp Kuss (born September 13, 1994) is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI World Tour Team Jumbo–Visma. Kuss is a talented climber who has achieved stage wins at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España and is an overall classification winner in the latter.

Name: Sepp Kuss
Birthday: September 13, 1994
Birthplace: Durango, Colorado, USA
Turned Pro: 2016
Height: 1.82m

Kuss started out in mountain bike racing as a junior and as a student at the University of Colorado won two races at the Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in 2014, and another in 2015 becoming a two-time mountain bike XC national champion. His cycling ambitions at the time were to take cycling as far as he could after finishing his degree. When asked one person he could sit and have lunch with he answered Peter Sagan.

Kuss began the 2016 season racing for the amateur Gateway Harley Davidson / Trek team. His first win was on a summit finish stage in the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Kuss finished fourth at the Mogollon stage at the Tour of the Gila, a UCI 2.2 stage race. He rode with Rally Cycling in the latter part of 2016 and during 2017, before joining LottoNL–Jumbo, initially on a two-year contract.

He rode in the 2018 Vuelta a España, his Grand Tour debut, after winning three stages and the GC at the Tour of Utah close to home - where he began to show how he'd be able to climb in future years. He also raced the 2019 Giro d’Italia before getting his first grand tour stage win in stage 15 of the 2019 Vuelta a España, launching a solo attack from the day’s breakaway with 7 kilometers to go, and supporting his team leader Primož Roglič who won the overall classification. He finished 15th overall in the 2020 Tour de France, while again riding in support of Roglič. This was also the highest overall placing for an American since Andrew Talansky in 2015. Kuss again supported Roglič’s winning ride in the 2020 Vuelta a Espana.

In July 2021, Kuss won stage 15 of the Tour de France after breaking away with 5 km to go up the final climb of the day, the Col de Beixalis, from a group that had initially contained 32 riders. He was able to maintain his lead ahead of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in the 15 kilometers that followed the climb. With this win Kuss became the first American to win a stage of the Tour de France since Tyler Farrar, who won stage 3 in 2011.

During the 2021 Vuelta a España Kuss and his teammates Steven Kruijswijk and Sam Oomen rode in support of Primoz Roglič, who was going for his third consecutive Vuelta title. Kuss started the race strong taking the King of Mountains jersey for two stages. He proved himself to be one of the strongest riders in race on climb to Lagos de Covadonga on stage 17.

Kuss asserted himself as one of the most prolific domestiques in the peloton and of his generation. Despite his enormous climbing talent, he preferred racing without pressure and became a vital part of Jumbo-Visma's success in the Grand Tours. In 2022 finally he was part of a Tour de France win, as he did a perfect task for Jonas Vingegaard who sealed the deal in July ahead of Tadej Pogacar. Kuss' season ended at the Vuelta a Espana later on.

In 2023 he was however a major headliner. Kuss was the only rider to race only at World Tour level throughout the season, and one of the very few who rode all three Grand Tours. The American was fifth at the UAE Tour but later on changed to his domestique duties. A late call-up for the Giro d'Italia proved meaningful as he supported Primoz Roglic to the overall win. A month later he took to the start of the Tour de France where he was in terrific form from the start and frequently provided a launchpad for Jonas Vingegaard's attacks.

The Dane went on to win the Tour for the second time, Kuss was well on his way to finish in the Top10 but a crash on stage 20 saw him heavily bruised in the face and falling towards 12th - still with his main task well and truly successful. Only a few weeks later he made history as he won the Vuelta a Espana, the third Grand Tour of his season. It was also the first time a team (in this case Jumbo-Visma) won all Grand Tours in one season - and with different riders. Additionally, the Dutch team filled up the entire podium.

Kuss was the winner of stage 6 into the Alto de Javalambre from a breakaway and took several minutes on the main GC contenders. The team was early on trying to distance their rivals. Kuss took the race lead on stage 8 to Xorret del Catí and then brilliantly climbed with the best over the coming mountain stages to become a big contender to win the race. What followed was a massive internal battle for the red jersey, as both Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic attacked at times to take time on the American - most famously on the Alto de l'Angliru. However from stage 18 onwards the decision was taken to protect Kuss, and he then officially sealed the overall win in Madrid.