Durango’s Sepp Kuss is riding the Giro d’Italia in support of Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Jonas Vingegaard, and both riders are holding their position in the general classification after Thursday’s Stage 12 with less than half the race remaining.
Despite being the favorite in the Giro, Vingegaard is still chasing the pink leader’s jersey. He’s been in second in the general classification for the last week behind Afonso Eulálio. Kuss has been inside the top 20 of the GC since his top-10 finish in Stage 8.
On Wednesday, the cyclists rode 195 kilometers from Porcari to Chiavari in a relatively hilly and easy Stage 11. Kuss finished 29th, three minutes and 24 seconds behind Jhonatan Narváez in first in 4:33:43. Vingegaard finished in 32nd with the same time as Kuss, right in front of Eulálio in 33rd with the same time.
Thursday’s Stage 12 was a 175-km trek from Imperia to Novi Ligure in Northwest Italy in a relatively flat stage other than a small climb at the beginning and a few climbs a little past halfway.
A group of four broke away at the beginning of the stage, and the Visma squad were content toward the front of the peloton. Visma was at the front of the peloton at the end of the race when Alec Segaert broke away at the end. Visma was content to let others chase after him, with Vingegaard crossing the line in 32nd and Kuss in 34th, both three seconds behind Segaert in a massive pack.
“We got through the day well,” Visma sports director Marc Reef said in a press release. “It was quite a difficult stage, as Movistar pushed hard on the climbs. We were well positioned at the front throughout the stage and Jonas was well supported by his teammates. In the finale, we took control at the front to avoid trouble, and fortunately that worked out well.”
Vingegaard left Stage 12 33 seconds behind Eulálio in the GC. Kuss is in 19th, 8:59 back.
After another flat stage on Friday, one of the hardest stages of the Giro will be on Saturday with the mountainous Stage 14 from Aosta to Pila. This could be the stage where Vingegaard finally breaks away to take the pink jersey with the help of Kuss. If that happens and Vingegaard takes control of the GC, this could open Kuss up to go for the win on a later mountain stage and get the first Giro d’Italia stage victory of his career.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
