Sepp Kuss is open to idea of joining Wout Van Aert at Vuelta a Espana: "We'll see how the body recovers, but why not?"
Cycling
Sepp Kuss will not hold too many positive memories of the 2026 Tour de France. The abandon of leader Jonas Vingegaard, his two crashes on descent from Col de Sarenne... And yet, the American is already looking forward to bid to ride his third Grand Tour of this season!
"The more I think about it, the more regrets I have," Kuss recalled the fateful 20th stage to Alpe d'Huez. Already one day prior, he had come close to a stage victory with a 4th place in more traditional ascent to the alpine resort. One day later, not even Richard Carapaz could keep up with the American's pace. And yet, he did not win. Whether fatigue or nerves, Kuss lost the stage to his own mistakes.
But Kuss doesn't dwell on the negatives too long, instead focusing on the positive aspects of his performance and the rest of the race.
"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."
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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?"
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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