Sepp Kuss
American road cyclist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sepp Kuss (born September 13, 1994) is an American professional cyclist from Durango, Colorado. He is the winner of the 2023 Vuelta a España, becoming the first American to do so since Chris Horner in 2013.[11] Kuss currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike,[12] where he has primarily served as a domestique. A talented climber, he has played a crucial role in helping team leaders Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard secure a combined six Grand Tour victories.[13] Throughout his career, Kuss has also achieved individual success, winning stages at both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. He is one of only two riders to win a Grand Tour having finished all three Grand Tours in the same year, the other being Gastone Nencini in 1957.
 Kuss at the 2023 Vuelta a España | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Eagle of Durango[1][2] The Mailman[3][4] The Durango Kid[5] |
| Born | September 13, 1994 Durango, Colorado |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[6] |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb; 9 st 8 lb)[7] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Visma–Lease a Bike |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climber Super-domestique |
| Amateur teams | |
| 2015 | Intermountain-Livewell[8] |
| 2016 | Gateway Harley Davidson / Trek |
| Professional teams | |
| 2016–2017 | Rally Cycling |
| 2018– | LottoNL–Jumbo[9][10] |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Early life and background
Sepp Kuss was born on September 13, 1994 in Durango, Colorado to parents Adolph and Sabina Kuss.[14] Adolph was the coach of the United States Ski Team from 1963 to 1972, and a professor of exercise science at Fort Lewis College. A significant figure in developing the outdoor sports reputation of Durango, he was inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame in 1990.[15] His mother Sabina also taught Nordic skiing.[14]
Kuss excelled in many outdoor sports as a child, including trail running, skiing, and whitewater kayaking.[14] His favorite sport as a child was ice hockey. In fourth grade, his parents enrolled him in Durango Devo, a youth mountain bike program that has produced other significant cyclists like Olympian Howard Grotts and XC short-track world champion Christopher Blevins.[16] Kuss committed to cycling as his primary sport during his senior year of high school.[17]
Amateur career
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Mountain biking
In 2013, Kuss enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he continued mountain biking. Kuss won three national titles at the cycling collegiate championships in XC (2014 and 2015) and Short Track (2014).[18][19] Kuss also competed internationally, racing at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lillehammer, where he finished 36th in the under 23 cross country race. The next year, at the 2015 championships in Andorra, Kuss finished 48th in the same event.[20]
During a university cycling team interview, when asked about his favorite type of racing, Kuss said "XC is my thing but I enjoy road races too," and stated that his cycling ambitions were only to "take cycling as far as I can once I finish my degree."[21]
Road cycling
In Kuss's own words, he "slowly gravitated to road racing" over the course of college.[22] After being introduced to road cycling through a collegiate cycling club, Kuss decided in 2015 to split his effort between road and mountain biking.[8] On the road, he raced with an amateur team sponsored by Intermountain LiveWell.[23] In an interview, Kuss stated he was drawn to road cycling because of "the longer, steeper climbs, those longer efforts," which he felt suited his skills better than mountain bike courses.[22]
In 2016, Kuss joined the amateur Gateway Harley Davidson / Trek team, and decided to focus fully on road cycling. He increased his training volume and consistency, and worked to adjust to the style of modern road cycling, which he found more dynamic than the "time trial"-like efforts of mountain biking.[8] His first win on the road came in the Redlands Bicycle Classic, where Kuss beat veteran UCI WorldTour riders Lachlan Morton and Janier Acevedo on the stage 2 summit finish to Oak Glen.[24]
Kuss's surprise win drew the attention of professional teams. In May, Kuss raced at the Tour of the Gila, where he again demonstrated his climbing potential with a fourth place finish on the opening stage climb to Mogollon.[22] Following the race, where Kuss finished 14th overall, Rally Cycling announced they were signing Kuss for the remainder of the 2016 season.[25]
Professional career
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Perspective
Rally Cycling (2016-2017)
In Kuss's first stage race with Rally, the Tour de Beauce in Canada, he won a mountain stage and finished 6th overall.[14] For the remainder of the 2016 season, Kuss travelled to Europe for his first block of international road racing, including riding the prestigious Tour de l'Avenir with the US national team. In a 2020 interview, Kuss recalled "being absolutely blown away, physically and mentally, by the toughness of European racing."[23]
At the 2017 Tour of California, Kuss finished 10th on the difficult stage 5 climb to Mount Baldy.[14] This drew the attention of LottoNL–Jumbo director Merijn Zeeman, who reached out to Kuss for physiological testing. Kuss followed up with strong results for the rest of the 2017 season, including a second overall finish at the Tour of Alberta. Just days after his 23rd birthday, Kuss signed a two-year contract with LottoNL-Jumbo, to ride in the UCI WorldTour starting in 2018.[26][27] In just two years, Kuss had transitioned from a collegiate mountain biker to the highest level of road cycling. He signed his first WorldTour contract while still a college student[28]—he completed his degree in advertising at UC Boulder in late 2017.[14]
LottoNL-Jumbo (2018-present)
2018–2019: Adjustment to WorldTour
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Kuss struggled to start his first season with the Dutch team, getting frequent DNFs as he adjusted to WorldTour racing.[14] In August, Kuss returned to the US for the Tour of Utah. On stage 2, Kuss attacked with 45 km to the finish, catching the day's breakaway and riding solo to win the stage and go into the overall lead.[29] Kuss attacked again on stage 5, a difficult queen stage ending at Snowbird, winning by over 30 seconds, before cementing his victory with another solo attack to win the final stage 6.[30][31] Kuss finished with 3 stage wins, the mountains jersey, and the overall victory in what The Salt Lake Tribune called "the most dominant performance in the history of this event."[32]
Following his performance in Utah, Kuss was selected to ride in the 2018 Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour. LottoNL–Jumbo management did not typically select neo-pros to Grand Tour teams, they made an exception for Kuss.[33] Kuss rode as a domestique, leading the peloton in the mountains for team leader Steven Kruijswijk, who finished the race in fourth overall.[34]
Kuss rode in the 2019 Giro d'Italia, supporting Primož Roglič who finished the race third overall.[35][36] In August, Kuss returned to the Vuelta a España. On stage 15, Kuss attacked from the breakaway on the final climb to Puerto del Acebo, riding solo for the final 6 km to claim his first Grand Tour stage win.[37] Kuss also supported Roglič throughout the race, who would go on to win the general classification. This helped cement Kuss as one of Roglič's key mountain domestiques, a partnership that would be highly successful in future Grand Tours.[38]
2020–2022: Mountain super-domestique
In 2020, Kuss won stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, riding away from a group of strong climbers on the final climb in Megève.[39] Later that month, Kuss was officially selected for his first Tour de France, as part of a Jumbo-Visma squad that cycling media called a 'super-team' led by Roglič, Tom Dumoulin, and Steven Kruijswijk.[40]
During the Tour, Kuss established himself as a 'super-domestique',[41] and was widely noted for his ability to assist team leader Roglič in the mountains and stay with the race leaders deep into climbs.[42][43] Kuss finished the race in 15th overall, the highest placing for an American since Andrew Talansky in 2015.[44] Kuss continued to support Roglič in the 2020 Vuelta a España, who won the race for the second consecutive year.[45]
In 2021, Kuss again rode the Tour de France. On stage 15, Kuss broke away from a group of 20 riders with 5 km to go on the Col de Beixalis, the stage's final climb. Kuss maintained his lead for the 15 km that followed the summit, winning the stage 23 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde. It was the first Tour de France stage win by an American since Tyler Farrar won stage 3 in 2011.[46] Kuss, who lives in Andorra, said after the stage that he knew the climb well from training, and had been particularly motivated to win so close to home.[47]
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During the 2021 Vuelta a España Kuss and his teammates rode in support of Roglič, who was aiming to win his third consecutive Vuelta title. Kuss started the race well, holding the King of the Mountains jersey for the first two stages. On the decisive stage 17 to Lagos de Covadonga, where Roglič won the stage and took the overall lead, Kuss showed his own climbing strength by winning the sprint for second place and denying bonus seconds to Roglič's rivals.[48] Roglič went on to win the race, while Kuss finished eighth overall, his first top 10 in a Grand Tour.[49]
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As a warmup for the 2022 Tour de France, Jumbo-Visma sent their primary favorites Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard to the Critérium du Dauphiné, while Kuss was given team leadership and the opportunity to target the overall win at the Tour de Suisse.[50] Kuss was in contention, sitting 10 seconds back from the lead after stage 4, but prior to stage 5 the entire team withdrew from the race due to a COVID-19 infection.[51]
During the Tour, Kuss rode in support of Roglič and Vingegaard as the team sought to challenge two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar. After Roglič and key mountain domestique Steven Kruijswijk both crashed out of the race, the burden of defending Vingegaard in the high mountains fell primarily on Kuss.[52] On stage 17, Kuss led Vingegaard up the final climb to Hautacam, passing Vingegaard off to teammate Wout van Aert before Vingegaard attacked to win the stage and secure his overall lead.[53] Vingegaard held both the yellow and polka dot jerseys to the end of the race, with Jumbo-Visma also winning the points classification with Van Aert.[54]
2023–present: Grand Tour champion
Kuss rode in support of Roglič's victory in the 2023 Giro d'Italia and Vingegaard's win in the 2023 Tour de France. He rode his third Grand Tour of the year in the 2023 Vuelta a España as Jumbo-Visma attempted to become the first cycling team in history to sweep all three Grand Tours in a single season. On Stage 6, he won after attacking from a breakaway group of 40 riders, moving him into second place in the General Classification, eight seconds behind Lenny Martinez who was also in the day's breakaway.[55] Two days later, Kuss moved into the overall lead of the race after finishing a minute ahead of Martinez.[56] He successfully defended his lead for the remainder of the race, despite losing some time to Vingegaard. He became the first cyclist to both ride all three Grand Tours and win one in the same season since Gastone Nencini in 1957. Also for the first time in history, the same team has won all three grand tours in the same season.[57][58]
In 2024, Kuss was originally named in the team list for the 2024 Tour de France, but was scratched before the race began due to a Covid infection.[59]
Despite this interruption to his preparation, Kuss rode well in his next race, the 2024 Vuelta a Burgos, winning on a mountain-top finish on stage 3 and then defending to take the overall win by 5 seconds.[60] Kuss started the 2024 Vuelta a España, but was unable to defend his title and finished the race in 14th place.[61]
Personal life
Kuss is of Slovenian and Italian descent, with his great-grandparents immigrating from Europe to Colorado in the 1800s.[62]
In 2022, Kuss married Noemí Ferré Fernández, a Spanish former professional cyclist. They live in Andorra, a popular location for cyclists due to its famous climbs.[63] In 2024, Kuss and Fernández had their first child, a daughter named Martina.[64]
Kuss speaks German in addition to English.[21]
Major results
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Perspective
Mountain bike
- 2014
- National Collegiate Championships
- 1st
Cross-country - 1st Short track
- 1st
- 2015
- 1st Cross-country, National Collegiate Championships
Road
Sources:[65]
- 2016
- 1st Stage 2 Redlands Bicycle Classic
- 6th Overall Tour de Beauce
- 1st Stage 2
- 2017
- 2nd Overall Tour of Alberta
- 6th Overall Colorado Classic
- 8th Overall Tour of the Gila
- 9th Overall Tour of Utah
- 2018 (4 pro wins)
- 1st
Overall Tour of Utah
- 1st
Mountains classification - 1st Stages 2, 5 & 6
- 1st
- 2019 (1)
- 1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España
- 5th Japan Cup
- 2020 (1)
- 8th Overall Tour de la Provence
- 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
- 1st Stage 5
- Vuelta a España
- Held
after Stage 1
- Held
- 2021 (1)
- 1st Stage 15 Tour de France
- 8th Overall Vuelta a España
- Held after Stages 1 & 2
- Held
- 2022
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
- 3rd Faun-Ardèche Classic
- 2023 (2)
- 1st
Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 6
- 5th Overall UAE Tour
- 2024 (2)
- 1st
Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
Mountains classification, Tour of the Basque Country - 6th Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior
- 8th Overall Volta ao Algarve
General classification results timeline
| Grand Tour general classification results | ||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia |
— | 56 | — | — | — | 14 | — | — |
 Tour de France |
— | — | 15 | 32 | 17 | 12 | — | |
 Vuelta a España |
65 | 29 | 16 | 8 | DNF | 1 | 14 | |
| Major stage race general classification results | ||||||||
| Race | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Paris–Nice |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
 Tirreno–Adriatico |
— | — | — | — | 68 | — | — | — |
 Volta a Catalunya |
— | DNF | NH | 12 | — | 19 | 13 | 23 |
| Tour of the Basque Country |
DNF | 95 | — | DNF | — | 41 | DNF | |
| Tour de Romandie |
— | — | 14 | 12 | — | — | ||
 Critérium du Dauphiné |
34 | 26 | 10 | 23 | — | — | DNF | |
| Tour de Suisse |
— | — | NH | — | DNF | — | — | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| IP | In progress |
References
External links
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