Sepp Kuss on Tour de France hopes: "I’m not delusional but I’m not under-ambitious"

Sepp Kuss argued recently that he is capable of winning the Tour de France. Of course, he will not enter the Grand Boucle as a main favourite, but the possibility exists. The American rider explains his recent declarations amidst a lot of commentary on his statements.

“Last year I realised that I could be up there with the best guys while really not thinking at all about the GC," Kuss told CyclingPro.net. "Now if you look at teams like UAE or other teams, they have a lot of leaders, and you always need a second guy that can go with those multiple cards from a strategic standpoint, especially in the first and second week."

Taking into consideration UAE Team Emirates' strategy for this summer, which includes four riders capable of racing for the final podium, it is very much in the cards that Team Visma | Lease a Bike do not deposit all their hopes on Jonas Vingegaard. With the departure of Primoz Roglic and Kuss' recent Vuelta a España win, it is only logical to imagine that the Durango native can be played as a second card for the GC.

“In the third week it’s just about the legs. It never hurts but… I’m not delusional. I see the headlines saying ‘Sepp wants to win the Tour’ but everyone wants to win the Tour. Even a sprinter wants to win the Tour but I’m not delusional but I’m not under-ambitious either," he tells. Certainly after winning a Grand Tour - in what was his third of the year - Kuss has strong arguments as to why the Dutch team should protect him in France.

“Everyone has to look for a headline but people who just read a headline, they think that I’m being…that I don’t have my head on my shoulders. But then if I say that I just want to help then people say I don’t have ambition... but if I say I want to try for myself then people say I only won the Vuelta because of a race situation. That’s true, but I also have to shoot for something myself," he continues.

"It’s just a matter of if you’re good or not, then it’s less complicated than it’s made out to be. But I’ve no illusions of things that I’m not capable of.” Last summer Kuss was in the Top10 until the final mountain stage despite his full domestique role. This was derailed by a tough crash on stage 20 in the Vosges, he carried his wounds to Spain where he then thrived.

Kuss began his season last weekend in Spain and is currently racing the Volta ao Algarve. The time-trial and competition such as Remco Evenepoel makes an overall win almost impossible, but the American is gearing up towards the sping with sharp days of racing. “I’m definitely happy. The races I’ve done so far, including this one, aren’t necessarily the ones for me but it’s always good when I can feel good in different styles of races. It’s also pretty fun and there are less expectations," he explains.

"I’m just seeing how it goes. For this week, I’m mainly going to help out Jan [Tratnik]. He’s in good shape and he deserves all the help, and then I’ll just get a feel for the racing. It’ll be good for me to do a time trial, and see how it goes there."