With the Jumbo-Visma hierarchy corrected, perhaps the biggest threat to Sepp Kuss securing the overall victory in the 2023 Vuelta a España is an accident during Stage 20.
Stage 19 may have seemed like a calm and relatively stress-free day for the peloton, but when you’re so close to your biggest victory ever, nothing comes easy. “These days are more stressful now. Normally, I just sit behind and go to the finish line, but now there’s a bit more to lose,” Kuss said in a post-stage interview.
“My teammates helped me very well today; we were always up front, and another day done. It wasn’t very easy.”
Having reached the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España, the American knows all too well that accidents can cost him the win in the competition.
“I think on these stages where the day is calmer, people take risks and crash in the end, but we stayed away from trouble,” he explained.
In the penultimate stage, everyone will give it their all
Although Stage 20 is expected to be won by a breakaway, the profile resembling a classic race means Kuss cannot afford to relax. “Tomorrow there will be a lot of climbs! But we have a very strong team, and we can go into it with a lot of confidence,” he anticipates. “It’s going to be a very tough day, everyone will go all out.”