"We knew that Remco would be strong" - Jumbo-Visma test Remco Evenepoel but lose first battle

Sepp Kuss was part of Jumbo-Visma's plan today. The Dutch team had four riders towards the top, however they could not either drop or make any gain on Remco Evenepoel who took the stage win and maximum bonus seconds himself.

Wilco Kelderman followed Romain Bardet in the penultimate climb, and then on the final ascent the team followed UAE Team Emirates who pushed the pace on the final ascent to Arinsal. Kuss was the first to attack and get an interesting gap. "My attack was more to test the other guys. It was still a fairly large group and that's how the competitors had to react. I felt good enough to try something, so why not? It is never wrong to do something."

Far from the lead and with form uncertain, Jumbo-Visma did not try to pace the ascent. Kuss attacked, but so did Marc Soler as UAE showed equal collective strength. As the attackers were caught, the American led out the group, but it was Evenepoel who sprinted to victory, as Primoz Roglic didn't have the legs and Jonas Vingegaard could only match second. Kuss lost 13 seconds on the line, as Wilco Kelderman also arrived in the main group.

“It is an area where I train a lot," Kuss, a resident of Andorra, added. "The people standing by the side of the road are really great. I often heard my name. That always gives you some extra energy. We knew that Remco would be strong after his World Championship title. However, Jonas and Primoz were also there and that's good."