"This year it's different for me... There's no one else to fall back on" - Sepp Kuss returns to Vuelta a Espana as undisputed Visma leader

Twelve months ago, all eyes were on Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic in the Jumbo-Visma lineup for the 2023 Vuelta a Espana. Because of this, Sepp Kuss was able to get himself in an early breakaway and get the Red Jersey, never relinquishing it until the race's finale. At the 2024 edition of the Spanish Grand Tour however, Kuss enters as undisputed Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader.

“This year without those two main general classification riders like them, it’s different for me," the American admitted ahead of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana at the team press conference on Thursday. "I wouldn’t say there’s more pressure, but there’s no one else to help or fall back on. It gives a different focus to the race.”

Whilst last year, Kuss was able to benefit from eyes being on his teammates, this time around he will have no such luck. There will be no freedom to get into the breakaway in the early stages because this time around, the defending Red Jersey starts as a marked man. “For sure last year was unique circumstance with having them as the main guys on the team," he explains. "Everybody were looking at them, and I was able to slip into a breakaway that was very decisive.”

In fact, rather than his teammate, this year, Primoz Roglic stands as arguably Kuss' biggest rival, having left Team Visma | Lease a Bike for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe after the controversial fallout to the 2023 Vuelta a Espana where both Roglic and Vingegaard had to be convinced to stop attacking their own teammate in the quest for the Red Jersey.

“The Vuelta is a race that’s always decided in the mountain, especially this year with so many summit finishes,” Kuss assesses. “I have to be smart and strong at the right moments.”