"I think he felt good but Pogacar was really strong" - Sepp Kuss denies that Jonas Vingegaard would have a lesser day to Combloux

Visma | Lease a Bike rode a good stage at the Criterium du Dauphiné, but it was only as good in the face of flying Tadej Pogacar who put a minute into Jonas Vingegaard in Combloux. One of the Dane's key domestiques Sepp Kuss was absent on the slopes of the final ascent. And his help would've been certainly more than welcome.

"It was a hard, very explosive day," Kuss reacts in an interview with race organizers. In the decisive moments, we haven't seen Kuss at the front anymore. "The sensations were good," he replies. "We tried to make the race hard and attack a bit on the second to last climb but that was the real start of the final."

On Domancy, it seemed as though Vingegaard had a lesser day. When Tadej Pogacar accelerated, the Dane seemed to have no response. But Kuss disagrees that his leader was having a worse moment. "I think he felt good but Pogacar was riding really strong."

"We tried to help him today by attacking and trying to make the other teams work, but UAE was really strong. They always had numbers there. Then it just came down to the final climb and the attack started super early and I think it was every man for themselves out there."