“We haven’t really had any easy day" - Sepp Kuss reflects on brutal week 2 at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana

The 2024 Vuelta a Espana has become a real survival of the fittest after a brutal second week. Whilst not showing the form of 2023, that saw him win the Spanish Grand Tour, Sepp Kuss had arguably his most positive showing on stage 15's summit finish.

“It has been super hard,” the American Team Visma | Lease a Bike said of week two, following stage 15's finale. “We haven’t really had any easy day. A lot of medium mountain stages and those other ones that take the most energy, at least for the smaller guys. So I’m looking forward to the rest day.”

As mentioned, sitting 12th overall after 15 stages, over seven minutes down on the Red Jersey wearing Ben O'Connor, Kuss has been far below the level he had twelve months ago, winning the first Grand Tour of his career. On stage 15 however, Kuss finished 8th, actually gaining time back on O'Connor.

“It was like every other climb in Asturias, steep and foggy. It was kind of just waiting for this last part, and it was just every man for themselves," he reflects. "It was really hard. The last 500 meters were pretty crazy. I watched the stage before [2012] on TV and Contador and Rodriguez were flying. They were sprinting up it, so I thought it can’t be that steep. But when I was on it, I was barely moving.”

Despite finishing ahead of O'Connor on the day, Kuss also had some warm words for the Australian, who remains more than a minute clear of Kuss' former teammate Primoz Roglic in the general classification. “I think he (O'Connor) did a really good ride. A stage like this suits him better than the previous ones,” Kuss concludes. “They were stages with shorter efforts, but this is an almost an hour-long climb. He is good on these kind of stages.”