September 19, 2023

2023-09-19 01:14:00

Who would have expected this before the start of the 78th Vuelta a España? Not Jonas Vingegaard or Primoz Roglic, but noble helper Sepp Kuss drove to Madrid in the red jersey. After three exciting weeks with numerous controversies, the American celebrated his first triumph on a Grand Tour. A milestone!

“I think it’s great that Kuss won. That’s a nice ending. The whole field of riders wanted it for him,” says Eurosport expert Jens Voigt in an exclusive interview with Eurosport.de, looking back on the Tour of Spain.

But Voigt also knows that this sometimes required the help of a three-time Vuelta champion. “Roglic has made a big sacrifice,” he explains – and gives his assessment of whether Kuss will continue to compete for Grand Tour titles in the future.

Voigt also talks regarding the slump and the impressive comeback of Remco Evenepoel, who pulled himself out of the swamp by his own hair. At Bora-hansgrohe led by Lennard Kämna, the two-time stage winner of the Tour of France, however, draws a mixed conclusion.

Mr. Voigt, in Madrid at the end of the 78th Vuelta it was all peace, joy and pancakes for the Jumbo-Visma team: How do you assess that, was it real joy or just a facade?

Jens Voigt: It was real joy on the last day. They were happy that they were successful and the controversy was brought to a happy and harmonious end. But at times it certainly wasn’t quite so harmonious.

You address the team’s internal attacks on Sepp Kuss.

Voigt: We all saw the pictures on television. It can’t be that Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard are attacking and Kuss, their teammate, most loyal helper and also the overall leader, can’t follow. Both of them cross the finish line with serious faces and say a minute later: “We really want Kuss to win.” And you think: If that’s what you want, you might stay with him. Or would that have been too much?

Brutal attack on the mountain: Vingegaard with boss announcement in Bejes

Especially since Roglic and Vingegaard were the only drivers who might really endanger him.

Voigt: Yes, that didn’t make any sense. The actions and communication didn’t match. In the end, yes: everyone had come to terms with the idea that there would be a real happy ending. Each of them won a tour. How might they have humanly sold the idea of ​​taking the jersey away from him?

After arriving in Bejes, there was a lot of criticism from our own fans.

Voigt: There has already been an enormous media outcry, largely in favor of Kuss. So they sat down and decided: They can’t help but let it go like this so that Kuss wins. So the team still achieved its goal of triumphing in all three tours. I think it’s great that Kuss won. That’s a nice ending. The entire field of drivers wanted it for him. He’s a nice and down-to-earth guy. One must also not forget that Vingegaard and Roglic achieved their victories because Kuss was there. So it was a good idea to give something back. But you also have to shed neutral light on the other side.

Primoz Roglic and Sepp Kuss hug each other.

Fotocredit: Getty Images

Voigt: Vingegaard is the greatest champion and won the Tour de France. It is rare that the reigning Tour winner also rides the Vuelta. So he comes there and thinks to himself: “There might be something else to get here too”. Roglic wins the Giro d’Italia and then has only the Vuelta on his mind throughout June and July.

Roglic made a big sacrifice.

The Slovenian was previously considered the captain for the Tour of Spain.

Voigt: He completed a high-altitude training camp, looked at the routes and mountains, and ate accordingly. He invested a lot of strength, effort and time away from his family to win the Vuelta. Because that had been the plan for months. So you ask him a big favor to throw away two or three months of his work and give it away. Because we have seen: If he had wanted to, he might have won the Vuelta. He would have been strong enough if he had attacked earlier or more forcefully. Roglic made a big sacrifice.

Instead, you saw unusual pictures with the star duo in the role of helper. Do you have the feeling that Roglic and Vingegaard have become winners in the final days of the Vuelta, even if they don’t end up wearing the red jersey?

Voigt: Yes. It was very, very good for the image of the team and of Roglic and Vingegaard. They obviously struggled with it a bit, but that’s understandable. How would Michael Schumacher have felt if he had been told in his prime that it was someone else’s turn this year? It’s hard for a champion like that to take a step back. Both had to take a big step. In the end everyone won, especially when it comes to humanity. It was a great thing for the image.

Sepp Kuss (m.) kisses Jonas Vingegaard (l.) – next to him Primoz Roglic (r., all Jumbo-Visma)

Fotocredit: Getty Images

Speaking of champion: How should Kuss’ performance be classified, what does this success mean for his future: Can he return to a role as a helper or has he tasted blood now?

Voigt: I think that was a unique, perfect and incredibly beautiful step up. But I don’t expect that to happen once more. One must not forget: He clearly traveled to Spain as a helper. Then he was given this top group and the three minutes.

You talk regarding the mountain finish at Pico del Buitre on stage 6, when he was able to win from a breakaway group.

Voigt: Yes. He didn’t get the minutes he needed once morest Juan Ayuso and Vingegaard. He won it in the top group because his own team kept their feet still at the back. And so he surprisingly grew into this role. Of course he worked hard and also fell. But he had two incredibly big trump cards up his sleeve in Roglic and Vingegaard. The three Jumbos were so far ahead of everyone else that Ayuso, Enric Mas and Mikel Landa behind them didn’t even try to attack at the front.

Kiss masterclass in Javalambre – Evenepoel loses red

In the meantime, the Vuelta was almost described as a club championship.

Voigt: Jumbo was so superior that they might do whatever they wanted with this tour. That was a constellation that will probably never occur once more. I think following all the happy moments, Kuss goes home and realizes, “I had my great moment.” But he doesn’t want to answer the first interview requests following the Tour victory on Boxing Day. He lives completely happily, calmly and relaxed in the big media slipstream of his two teammates. He thinks to himself: “I’m happy, I’ve received this huge gift and I’m now going back to the role I’ve always been in and the one I do best.”

A task that he has fulfilled fantastically over the past few years.

Voigt: There is probably no stronger, more loyal and more reliable helper than Kuss. And he is happy in the role, it fills him up and he has much less stress. It’s much easier to be a soldier than a general. And Kuss says: “I’m a good soldier.” In short: It won’t happen once more that he wants to be a classification rider – at least in a Grand Tour.

They weren’t entirely lucky either.

Is Jumbo really in a league of its own at the moment or have they had the “luck” of slumping opponents twice like Remco Evenepoel at the Vuelta and Tadej Pogacar at the Tour?

Voigt: Once you’re lucky, you’re lucky, and once you’re unlucky, you’re unlucky. But if the others are unlucky three times and Jumbo isn’t, that’s skill. We must also not forget that Roglic also crashed in the Giro. He also hurt himself and mightn’t attack for some stages. Until a few days ago, Kuss still had a thick plaster on his face from his fall. They weren’t entirely lucky either.

Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta 2023

Fotocredit: Getty Images

Evenepoel showed his class once more on the final weekend: might he have broken through the jumbo phalanx without the break-in on the way to the Tourmalet?

Voigt: That’s the crucial question. Let’s just look at the facts: He is 23 years old and has completed four major tours in his career so far. He won once, failed twice, collapsed once, but then spectacularly won three stages. Pogacar, on the other hand, has won the Tour twice in the past four years and came second twice. Vingegaard has triumphed twice at the Tour, finishing second the year before. The talent at Remco is just as great as the talent of the other superheroes.

Voigt: Reliability still seems to be lacking. Maybe it’s because he played another sport for too long and didn’t learn it from scratch. He seems to have difficulty digesting when things aren’t going well – i.e. in a single stage. He loses almost 30 minutes and immediately goes into the leading group the next day. If he was physically bad, it wouldn’t work.

Debacle on the queen stage: Evenepoel concedes over 27 minutes

Voigt: So I place his problem more in the head, in the attitude, or in the ability to deal with crises. And cycling hurts like hell sometimes. But then you have to tell yourself that it hurts everyone else too. His track record is really mixed.

Nevertheless, following his collapse, he still won two stages and secured the mountain jersey. How important was he in creating excitement at the Jumbo Festival?

Voigt: Despite everything, I found the Vuelta exciting. The battle for fourth, fifth and sixth place was also interesting; the three Spaniards were only 30 seconds apart at one point. But: Evenepoel is an international superstar who is also being noticed. It was spectacular the way he walked into a group and accelerated like a moped. He helped make the Vuelta interesting and certainly helped the viewer numbers. Despite his slump, Remco was important for the Tour of Spain.

Now Evenepoel is ready for the tour.

Voigt: He provided highlights and spectacles. He doesn’t do average. He’s always spectacular no matter what. And I was pleasantly surprised by his comeback, the way he pulled himself out of the swamp by his own hair. I think he has made a huge step in his personal development. I think now he’s really ready to attack at the Tour de France.

Lennard Kämna and Nico Denz, two Bora drivers, attacked on the last stage to Madrid. Kämna wins one, almost two stages for the German racing team. Youngster Cian Uijtdebroeks makes a fantastic debut. What is your Bora balance sheet?

Voigt: A bit mixed. Aleksandr Vlasov once spoke regarding the podium in an interview. They were very far away from that, even if that is true for many this year. Uijtdebroeks was one of the discoveries of the tour, was stable until the last week and always in a good mood. That was a great surprise.

As a soloist for a triple coup: Kämna triumphs when she reaches the mountain

A Bora highlight alongside Kämna’s success on the 9th stage.

Voigt: With the day’s victory we have achieved the minimum goal. There aren’t that many teams that have won a stage in all three major tours – Bora is one of them. They’ve done that very well. But they won’t be completely satisfied. They were always there and always part of the action.

Voigt: You weren’t able to attack fourth, fifth and sixth place in the rankings. Landa, Mas and Ayuso were just a bit better. As a team, they drive attractively, cleverly, are involved and take advantage of moments. It’s an attractive team and they were deservedly rewarded with the stage win. But if they want to aim for the podium, they still have a lot of work to do.

To what extent did the Ineos Grenadiers tour of Spain disappoint you?

Voigt: Judging by the budget they have and where they come from, they barely saved the Vuelta with Filippo Ganna’s time trial victory. Of course they too were marked by falls. With one stage success they barely escaped with a black eye. But they certainly had more in mind. So Ineos has to do a lot of homework.

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