What happened at the end of the stage with the finish at Alto de l’Angliru was a surprise in the Vuelta a España. Sepp Kuss was left behind when he was only with his teammates Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, and the reactions to the team’s actions were very strong in the specialized media.
During the post-stage debate on the Eurosport channel, the commentators’ criticism was forceful, ranging from “indecent” to “disrespectful.”
“He (Primoz Roglic) wants to race… He wants to win… He knew Sepp had been dropped, he was contradicting himself all the time,” said Sean Kelly. Kuss, at the moment he was dropped, sent messages through the team’s radio.
Moment when Kuss is left behind:
According to Mikel Landa, it didn’t work to close the gap in the final kilometers. It was a confusing situation for the viewers, but more than that, it was Primoz Roglic’s acceleration to drop the American, without waiting for him, while Jonas Vingegaard followed the Slovenian.
“I think it’s so unfair, I think it’s so disrespectful,” said Adam Blythe, a Eurosport commentator. “He (Sepp Kuss) saved his jersey (referring to the American’s help to Primoz Roglic) countless times; Roglic might not have won all his Grand Tours without Sepp.”
“At one point, he could change that kid’s life forever, and you don’t have the decency or respect for Sepp Kuss to say, ‘Let’s support you, me and Jonas.'”
“He’s suggesting he has a responsibility to himself, and the responsibility to himself is to try his hardest and win as much as he can, and therein lies the problem,” added the show’s lead presenter, Orla Chennaoui.
“It’s man against man, and it just goes against everything we say about this beautiful sport that we love. A rider crosses the finish line alone, but it takes an entire team to get him there. This completely destroys the rulebook.”
Watch the full interview and the commentators’ reactions: