Kuss reveals 2025 ambitions after slow start to the season in Portugal: "Let’s see what’s possible for us"

If there’s one domestique that almost every GC contender would dream of having, it’s Sepp Kuss. The 30-year-old American from Visma | Lease a Bike has played a crucial role in helping his team leaders—primarily Jonas Vingegaard in recent years—secure victories at the highest level. However, in 2023, Kuss shocked the cycling world by winning the Vuelta a España himself. With Visma's stacked roster, now including Simon Yates as another top GC rider, the big question remains: what role will the climber from Durango play this season?

Kuss kicked off his 2024 campaign at Clasica Jaén, before heading to Portugal for the Volta ao Algarve. Anyone looking for his name in the final general classification would have to scroll down to 38th place. That result didn’t cause any panic for Kuss, as he had already downplayed expectations regarding his early-season form. "It would be nice to be strong in the spring, but I’m aiming for a longer, more gradual build-up this season. So, I’m going into these first races without expectations, knowing that my main focus is on the summer," the former Vuelta winner explained to me back in February.

On the race’s key climb, the Alto de Foia, Kuss lost four minutes to stage winner Jan Christen. Even he admitted the significant gap in performance. "I would have liked to be at that level, but on a ten-minute climb, it’s hard to gauge the difference between guys who have trained a lot or spent time at altitude. That’s not an excuse, but I have to be realistic about where I am right now," he told Daniel Benson after the race.

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Kuss as overall winner of the Vuelta in 2023

Kuss reveils 2025 program: "Being a good helper for Vingegaard and Yates"

With his focus now shifting to the rest of 2025, Kuss is preparing for a season that will once again be centered around stage racing. "I’ll be racing (the Volta a) Catalunya. This is a tricky time of the year to balance race days and training properly. But it’s a race I’ve always enjoyed." After that, the American climber will stay in Spain, competing in the Tour of the Basque Country. "Then, I’ll go to altitude training for the first time this year to prepare for the Dauphiné and the Tour de France," Kuss outlined.

Kuss’s role in these races seems clear from the outset. "In Catalunya, I want to be a good helper for Jonas (Vingegaard) and Simon (Yates). The same applies to the Tour—I want to be at a high level and contribute to a strong team performance." However, Kuss isn’t completely ruling out his own opportunities. "You never know what might happen with the Vuelta later in the year. Maybe the route doesn’t suit me perfectly on paper, but I’d love to try to win a stage and help Jonas there. We’ll see what’s possible for us," the Killer Bee cautiously looks ahead.

That said, Kuss’s chances of riding for his own ambitions seem to be diminishing—something he appears to have made peace with. "For me, it’s better if I stay out of the spotlight. It means fewer expectations from the outside world, which suits me better as a person. Jonas and Wout deal with constant pressure, but they handle it differently. I don’t know if last year had a lasting effect on me, but it was completely new territory. Maybe that’s something you need to gain experience with as well," Kuss told this website in February.

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