"It was actually a dream scenario" - Sepp Kuss thriving in Red Jersey at the Vuelta a Espana

Sepp Kuss continues to prove any of his dwindling number of doubters wrong, the latest of his impressive performance seeing him finish second atop the Col du Tourmalet on the queen stage to maintain his general classification lead at the Vuelta a Espana.

On a perfect day for Jumbo-Visma, Jonas Vingegaard was the stage winner ahead of Kuss in second and Primoz Roglic in third meaning the trio now complete the podium in the GC. "It was actually a dream scenario," said the American post-stage. "The ride was super tough and one climb followed another. You had to be concentrated all day and the speed was extremely high. The team did a great job. There were still a lot of us at the front when there were only twenty riders left in the peloton. Robert Gesink in particular performed wonderfully."

"We knew we would force the others to drive when Jonas attacked. Primoz Roglic and I could then continue to ride in the wheels," Kuss continued, explaining some of the team's tactics. "During the stage, Jonas already indicated that he was feeling great and that today was his daughter's birthday. He was incredibly motivated. It is still too early to say whether we will win the Vuelta. This ride was tough, but another difficult ride is scheduled for Saturday. The fatigue is building up and the race is still long."

There is seemingly no stopping Jumbo-Visma now, with the complete podium in their hands and last year's Red Jersey Remco Evenepoel having completely cracked. "On the first climb we heard that Remco was in a bit of trouble," says Kuss. "Before we heard that, we just wanted to maintain a solid pace, but then we had to keep going. We tried to widen the gap and we succeeded. We are in a great position and we will see how it goes for the rest of the stages."