Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss has revealed how the seeds of Jonas Vingegaard's historic Tour de France win in 2022 were sown the previous year when the Dane was able to gap Tadej Pogacar atop Mont Ventoux.
"Already in 2021, he was a helper and ends up second in the Tour. We said, 'OK, we have another guy who can win the Tour,'” the 28-year-old American told Flo Bikes. “He always showed glimpses of amazing things. He just needed to pull it all together. What was good for him was that Primož was and still is a good mentor for him. He learned a lot.”
Comparing both Roglic and Vingegaard is hard for Kuss. “They’re different people but they both embrace the way of working. They’re really focused and very different kinds of leaders,” he explains. "They bring the most out of everyone on the team. That’s an important quality to have. When you see their confidence, it brings peace to the rest of the guys on the team. With different leaders you have to understand how to read their body language, it’s not like you can always speak to them during the race. Things can change. You may have a plan before the race, and things may go into a completely different direction, but you have to put yourself in their shoes, and see what they need or what.”
One of Jumbo-Visma's most trusted climbing domestiques, Kuss is expected to return to France in 2023 to help Vingegaard in his attempt to win the yellow jersey again. "It would be nice to go back and try to help defend the Tour title,” Kuss said. “The Tour is such a big goal for every team and every rider, so it would be really cool to be part of that again,”
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