"The nice moments in cycling, the victories, they are pretty fleeting, you know, they pass by really fast. What sticks with me most is the process of getting ready for those big moments, the emotions I feel in the stage, the good feelings I feel in the stage. That's what I have to remember the most, more than the victories or almost victories."
A very nice Tour
All in all, the 31-year-old rates the 2026 Tour very highly - even though hardly anything has gone the right way for him and his
team Visma | Lease a Bike. Perhaps partly thanks to the freedom he unexpectedly got to enjoy in the final week.
"For me this was one of the more enjoyable Tours. Sometimes I have it where I'm like 'I don't like the Tour de France', because it's so unforgiving, so fast, the stakes are so high, that if you're just missing a few percentage points, it's hard to enjoy, to be honest," he admits. "But this year I felt really good, really solid, and I enjoyed it more."
Visma | Lease a Bike celebrate win in opening team time trial
Crazy fast
When Kuss claims it was an enjoyable Grande Boucle edition, he doesn't imply it was an easy race where he'd get to enjoy the beauty of French landscape in any case. Not even because the race would be as hard; it's simply because every stage is ridden at such a rapid pace.
"For me it was one of the toughest," said the 31-year-old. "The course itself was maybe not the hardest, but the way we raced every stage made it really tough, also with the heat in the first half of he race, but he level is so high in the peloton now that everyone wants to win a stage and every stage then becomes crazy fast."
"It's always hard to keep up with the speed that everyone is going at now, but I just enjoy it so much and I think that helps me get the best out of myself."
Kuss at home
Ultimately, it is also a second 13th place overall for the American this season, after he claimed the same result in Italy - although he managed to win a stage there. Even though Kuss did not race for general classification at neither Grand Tour, his quality in the mountains over the three weeks seems undisputable.
"Sometimes I need a big race in the legs to feel at my best," he nods.
Then the question is at hand; will Kuss join teammate Wout Van Aert for
Vuelta a Espana - this time without any GC restraints? "I hope so," he reacted positively about the idea of riding all three Grand Tours this season - just like in 2023.
But the nomination will depend on more than just Kuss' wishes: "We'll see how the body recovers after this one, but why not?"