Durango pro cyclist Sepp Kuss will begin his 2022 season with a pair of competitions this weekend in France.
His first race will be the Faun-Ardèche Classic, a 104.7-mile, one-day race Saturday in southern France. The race begins in Guilherand and ends in Granges.
Kuss will be joined by Jumbo-Visma teammates Primoz Roglic, who is one of the favorites, Tobias Foss, Robert Gesink and Jonas Vingegaard. They’ll compete against 21 pro teams, including double world champion Julian Alaphilippe and his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team.
Sunday, Kuss will race in the 10th edition of the Faun Drome Classic, a one-day, 118.99-mile race that will begin in its new host city, Étoile-sur-Rhône.
Roglic and Vingegaard also will race in the Drome Classic, along with teammates Gijs Leemreize, Sam Oomen and Steven Kruijswijk. They’ll compete with 22 teams, including Trek-Segafredo and its new cyclist Quinn Simmons of Durango.
Kuss also plans to race twice in March, once in April and in one tour in June, July and August.
His schedule includes the Strade Bianche March 5 in the Tuscany region of Italy, an 86.37-mile, one-day race on a twisty and undulating course with punchy hills, most significantly on gravel sections.
Kuss and his teammates will then transition to multiday tours.
March 7, Kuss will race in Italy’s Tirreno-Adriatico, nicknamed “Race of the Two Seas.” The 704.57-mile race features seven stages and14,360 meters of elevation gain.
April 4-9, Kuss will race in the Itzulia Basque Country, held in steep hills and mountains in Spain. The six-stage race is 548.79 miles long, including a 4.66-mile time trial. Roglic won it last year.
Kuss then will race in the Tour de Suisse, the most important cycling race in Switzerland. The eight-stage race hasn’t been finalized, but it typically exceeds 807 miles long.
Kuss will conclude his season at a pair of grand tours – the 21-stage Tour de France July 1-24 and the 21-stage Vuelta a España Aug. 19 to Sep. 11.
The Tour de France will be 2,067 miles long; the Vuelta, about 2,038.4 miles long.
