"It's better for me to lose some time and see how that goes" - Sepp Kuss opts for stage hunting at Itzulia Basque Country after Visma leader Vingegaard crashes out

After the loss of their leader, Jonas Vingegaard in the mass crash of stage 4 at the Itzulia Basque Country, Team Visma | Lease a Bike were bright and attacking on stage 5. Among those who tried their luck, Sepp Kuss.

"It was a really fast start to the stage," the American reflects in his post-stage interview with Eurosport. "There was no real breakaway, so for me, it was nice to try and Isaac del Toro was really strong but yeah, there was a lot of headwind and flat road until the last circuit."

With more climbing tomorrow, will Kuss again try his luck and go for a stage win? "It's such a hard day that you'll have to have good legs to enjoy it!" Kuss smiles. "We'll see how the body is tomorrow and try again," he laughs.

"I tried to save my legs in the end because the GC is so close, it's better for me to lose some time and see how that goes," Kuss concludes.

In the end, it was Groupama - FDJ's Romain Gregoire who took the win on the day, in a hotly contested sprint from a reduced bunch with Mattias Skjelmose keeping hold of the leader's Yellow Jersey.