"Landa will never have to pay for his own beer again" - Sepp Kuss praises Spanish climber for assistance at Vuelta a Espana win

Team Visma | Lease a Bike had an historical battle as last year's Vuelta a España, as all three podium spots were taken by the same team and all three wanted to win. Sepp Kuss ultimately succeeded, and he has Mikel Landa to partially thank for that.

The story was one that developed quite interestingly. Kuss joined the breakaway and won the first mountain stage of the race, building up a lead of several minutes over his teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic; and the rest of the competition. At first he was thought of as an outsider who could play, with this, a support role for his leaders who now had less, responsibility, but it turned out to be a much bigger story in development as Kuss climbed like never before.

The American, this time around far from a domestique role, showed the climbing level that was superior to everyone else in the race besides his teammates. All of this culminated on stage 17 which finished atop the brutal Alto de l'Angliru. Primoz Roglic had been seeking a GC victory and dropped Kuss when the trio rode isolated in the head of the race - and Vingegaard followed. Kuss was ultimately caught by Mikel Landa. Whilst in such a climb the slipstreaming effect would not be meaningful, Kuss followed Landa's wheel and lost only 19 seconds on the day which allowed him to keep the red jersey.

"I thought I had lost the jersey. Landa will never have to pay for his own beer again," Kuss said in the All In documentary jokingly. Kuss went on to then win the race as the team unanimously decided to keep the standings as they were, rewarding the American with an incredible and career-changing victory.