“I didn’t expect to be able to do this already” - Sepp Kuss heads to Vuelta a Espana defence with confidence high and in winning form after Vuelta a Burgos success

After a difficult few months battling Covid, Sepp Kuss returned to racing in style at the 2024 Vuelta a Burgos, securing the overall victory by just 5 seconds from Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Max Poole. As such, the American heads to Clasica San Sebastian and the Vuelta a Espana high on confidence.

“This victory means a lot to me,” Kuss says afterwards in conversation with Team Visma | Lease a Bike's official website. “I have had a lot of setbacks this past year. Last Wednesday was already a great day for me with the stage win. The fact that I have now also managed to win the final classification of a multi-day stage race makes me very happy.”

“I didn’t expect to be able to do this already,” the American continues his reflection delightedly. “It was great to be able to ride here with a large part of the selection for La Vuelta. No one in the team expected that things would go so well right away. The victory in the final classification gives me a lot of confidence, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming races.”

Understandably, Kuss' performances over the last week, winning a stage alongside his general classification triumph, have given the whole of Team Visma | Lease a Bike a well timed confidence boost as the peloton heads into the busy final part of the 2025 season that is quickly approaching us.

“The most important goal was to get into rhythm towards La Vuelta. The fact that we also won one stage and the final classification is fantastic," assesses a very satisfied team manager Marc Reef. "It was a tough period for Sepp. It is great to see that, despite two crashes, he was able to show himself this way last week. This gives a lot of confidence.”