Sepp Kuss of Durango held on to the Vuelta a España’s overall lead with top-15 performances on both stages 9 and 10. He’ll enter Stage 11 on Wednesday with a 26-second lead over Marc Soler of UAE Team Emirates.
Stage 9 on Sunday was chaotic, but Kuss held on to the red leader’s jersey for Team Jumbo-Visma. Lennard Kamna of BORA-hansgrohe was in the breakaway and won the stage, but Kuss was always alert and finished the day with a 43-second lead over Soler.
A group of 13 riders got away from the peloton. Among them were no less than seven Jumbo-Visma riders including Kuss, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Dylan van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman, Attila Valter and Jan Tratnik.
Due to a dangerous situation just below the summit of the final climb, the Collado de la Cruz Caravaca, the Vuelta organizers were forced to take GC times two kilometers from the original finish line.
Kuss ended up finishing 15th in the same time as Soler. Roglic and Vingegaard finished 16th and 19th, but scored some time bonuses.
“We knew we had to be on top in the opening stage,” Kuss said. “We were right at the front of the peloton. Then, we created a gap. I had a really tough day. Fortunately, my legs were strong enough to consistently ride at the front of the pack. It was a nervous day, partly because of the wind, but I got through it well.”
Kuss was then the last cyclist to start the 25.8-kilometer individual time trial on Tuesday and he finished 13th with a strong effort to maintain a 26-second lead over Soler.
“It was the first time I started a time trial in such an important position, but I felt relaxed,” Kuss said. “I was trying to take pleasure in the idea that I was going around in the red jersey, but it was all about pedaling as hard as possible. Being the last rider off the podium to the crowd's cheers gave me a lot of energy.”
Roglic, the ITT Olympic champion, finished third to move into fourth in the GC, 1:36 behind Kuss. He was outpaced only by stage winner Filippo Ganna of INEOS Grenadiers and Remco Evenepoel of Soudal – Quick Step, the world champion. Vingegaard finished 10th to stay in seventh overall.
“I am happy with this result,” Roglic said. “Evenepoel is the world time trial champion for a reason, so we knew he would be strong today. I could pedal hard all the time, and I felt great. It's also wonderful that Sepp managed to keep the red jersey. It's up to us to defend it in the coming days.”
Jumbo-Visma sports director Grischa Niermann looked back on the stage with satisfaction. “We are happy with where we are,” he said. “Unfortunately, Jonas rode a lesser time trial. We had hoped for a smaller gap for him. With Primoz, we again did an excellent job in the classification, and Sepp rode his best time trial ever. He maintained a respectable lead over the rest of the field, and behind him, we still have two other riders who may contend for the victory in Primoz and Jonas. After 10 days, we can say we are in good form.”
“It's only the 10th stage, so there is still a lot to do,” Kuss said. “I still have a nice advantage over the rest of the field, but with the tough mountain stages ahead of us, I can lose that advantage quickly. We will have to see how the next stages go. I feel good, and both Primoz and Jonas give me a lot of confidence. We are looking forward to it.”
