"There’s no excuses... I just have to better next time" - Sepp Kuss gives blunt assessment of lacklustre Vuelta a Espana title defence

After shocking the world at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana and usurping superstar teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic to win the Red Jersey himself, Sepp Kuss was given unchallenged leadership of Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the 2024 edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. Sadly however, things didn't go exactly as planned.

"I’m glad it’s over," the American soberingly acknowledged after the 2024 Vuelta a Espana ended with an individual time trial in Madrid on Sunday evening, in quotes collected by Cycling News. "The last two days I really suffered a lot, and they went by slowly. I’m happy it’s over. But I learned a lot in this race, as I do in every Grand Tour. It’s been a hard one."

With emotions completely contrasted to those from twelve months ago, Kuss gave a blunt assessment of his race as a whole, willingly admitting he was far below the level expected and required of him. "I mean, I didn’t have my best form but on a lot of stages I was really happy with my performance. It’s just the level is super high," Kuss says. "There’s no excuses, really. You can always say one thing or another, but at the end of the day everybody has hurdles and problems or excuses. I just have to be better next time around."

"I think in this race I noticed on the harder days that I missed that bit of racing fitness that you only get from races or from doing Grand Tours," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star continues, looking for some explanation to the differing levels over his last two Vuelta showings. "But for sure, doing three Grand Tours isn’t something that’s super sustainable every year. For me, it was hard to miss the Tour in itself, but it was also hard to miss it in terms of preparing for the Vuelta."

Whilst Wout van Aert did ensure some success for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, winning three stages, when the Belgian crashed out in the third week, Kuss admits the morale within the team was badly bruised. "With the three stages Wout won, we were really on a high and he was going for the mountains jersey and that was a whole other objective," Kuss concludes. "To be honest, when he had to abandon the race because of a crash, I think it was really hard for all of us, because we all missed that kind of focus, including myself. It was really hard to recalibrate after that."