INTERVIEW | Sepp Kuss admits pressure from UAE and BORA at Vuelta a Espana: "It can be tricky if those strong teams have multiple riders up the road"

Defending champion Sepp Kuss has made it to Lisbon and was present at a pre-race press conference this afternoon without the tension of being the defending champion and number 1 at the race. He hasn't put himself as the main favourite to win the race, and he is aware that the likes of UAE Team Emirates and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe bring very strong teams that can put Team Visma | Lease a Bike under pressure.

"They have super strong teams. I think it depends on the stages. Lot of times in the Vuelta you have such steep final climbs that it becomes a bit less strategic and just a matter of who has the legs," Kuss said in words to CyclingUpToDate. Visma have Wout van Aert but the Belgian will have freedom to focus on his personal ambitions whilst Cian Uijtdebroeks will also be eyeing the Top10 and not particularly be in a domestique role for the American.

There are days where the lack of a super-team such as the one at the Tour that also included climbers such as Matteo Jorgenson and Wilco Kelderman can make life hard for the Dutch team. UAE has seven climbers including João Almeida, Adam Yates, Isaac del Toro and Brandon McNulty whilst BORA has Primoz Roglic, Daniel Martínez, Aleksandr Vlasov and Florian Lipowitz. There is a lot of depth in these two teams, almost comparable to how UAE and Visma mirrored each other at the Tour over the past few years.

"But there's a lot of stages where it can be tricky if those strong teams have multiple riders up the road," he admits. "There's always situations at the Vuelta where things can be a bit less controlled, just more riders to keep an eye on. Just have to be smart and be strong in the right moments".

We asked Kuss which climbs he considered the hardest in this race. "I think the Cuitu Negru seems really hard, also the Picon Blanco is a really hard climb it's really exposed and steep". It might just be that these climbs will decide the race, on stages 15 and 20.