Sepp Kuss on Ben O'Connor's Vuelta a Espana raid: "He didn’t get the win handed to him; he truly earned it"

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are aiming for a top result at the Vuelta a España and today they have gained a big rival. Ben O'Connor looked to be in serious trouble at Pico Villuercas, however during stage 6 he was part of the breakaway and took many minutes on the whole peloton; a gap that Sepp Kuss will certainly struggle to recover, if that is even possible.

“It was a real battle to get into the breakaway today,” Kuss said in a post-race interview. “The opening phase was particularly tough. The pace was high, and it was once again quite warm. Eventually, a group of thirteen riders got away after an earlier group was reeled back in. The course was very technical, with several tricky moments here and there."

The truth is Kuss should be rather satisfied with the outcome of the day, taking into consideration that a crash saw Adam Yates lose significant time and that both his compatriots Brandon McNulty and Matthew Riccitello fell out of GC contention despite it being a seemingly non-complicated day for the main climbers. There were traps, and Visma survived them. Kuss descended from 13th to 15th but this is largely due to the presence of other riders who were in the breakaway and shouldn't remain ahead of the defending champion.

But O'Connor, the new red jersey, is on a league of his own when it comes to the riders who made a difference today. Kuss was not ashamed to admit that the Australian rider really put in an impressive ride to take the win: "Ben rode exceptionally well today. He didn’t get the win handed to him; he truly earned it.”