Sepp Kuss (Visma – Lease a Bike) took the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos stage race, indicating his strong form and readiness to defend his Vuelta a España crown.
Vuelta a Burgos is a five-day stage race in northern Spain. It is often considered a preparation race for the last Grand Tour of the season, which kicks off on August 17 this year.
The 29-year-old American won the third stage of the race, the Queen Stage, which culminated with an 11-kilometre hors catégorie climb up to Neila. Kuss and teammate Cian Uijtdebroeks were delivered to the base of the climb by the team’s domestiques to do what they do best. After Uijtdebroeks failed to shake off any race favourites during his attack, it was Kuss’ turn to give it a go. None of the rivals managed to follow his pace, and he arrived at the mountaintop finish solo. In doing so, he claimed the colourful leader’s jersey and now leads the General Classification by 13 seconds over Ecuadorian Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA).
“I’m very happy with this,” said Kuss post-race. “It was a tough day, partly because of the heat. On the final climb I was struggling quite a bit, but I wanted to try at least once. When I saw I had created a gap, I went as hard as I could. I’m glad it worked out and I want to thank my teammates for all the work they did.”
