According to INEOS Grenadiers coach Xabier Artetxe, Kuss’s mental strength was at least as crucial as his physical potential in his Vuelta a España victory. When it comes to completing three Grand Tours and winning one, good fitness is undoubtedly essential, but having enough psychological resilience to handle so many races also plays a significant role.
Two races before the Giro d’Italia
“It is also true that a good plan is needed, and Sepp Kuss had only done two races before the Giro, the UAE Tour (5th place) and the Volta a Catalunya (19th place), probably taking things quite easy in both to be in the best shape for the summer,” said the Spanish coach to the American site Cyclingnews.
“But for me, the key factor is being psychologically prepared for it, and not everyone has the kind of mindset that a guy like Sepp Kuss clearly has.”
A vital element of this special type of personality, according to Artetxe, is “being the kind of guy who doesn’t mind focusing a lot for exceptionally long periods on being at altitude, eating the right kind of food, having the right kind of weight.”
Questionable talent?
“He may not be the kind of guy who has the talent to lead a race, with all the being at the front of the group and all the stress management that implies,” he continues. “But the rest, Sepp Kuss is a guy who handles all these things very well.”
“You also need to be a natural Grand Tour rider, one of those guys with especially fast recovery levels,” says Artetxe. “That’s the case for Kuss, just as it was for Carlos Sastre and Lejaretta (winner of the 2008 Tour de France and a triple Grand Tour specialist).”
” You have four or five weeks at most between the two events, and people are usually so mentally tired that they can’t control themselves in the two weeks after a Grand Tour.”
” You hugely reduce your workload, and at the same time, you end up eating much more than during the race, so your weight increases, at least two or three kilos, and that’s hard to control.”
” However, if you can manage the recovery and the food consumption side at a psychological level, then it’s definitely possible to do it.”