Sepp Kuss realizes that he finds himself in no man's land: "Now I have nothing to lose"

There are still two challenging days left in the Vuelta a España, but the chances of Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) defending his title are slim. The American has been alternating between good and bad days, and as a result, he currently sits in eleventh place in the general classification.

While he lost significant time on Thursday, Kuss was able to keep up with the stronger climbers on the Alto del Moncalvillo on Friday. This resulted in an eighth-place finish on the stage. "I felt much better today than earlier in this Vuelta. That really boosts my mental state," he communicated after the race through the channels of his team, Visma | Lease a Bike.

On Saturday, the queen stage of this Vuelta a España is on the menu, in which a climber like Kuss would typically thrive. "In the position I’m in now, I have nothing to lose. I hope I can carry this good feeling into tomorrow. I’ll leave it all out on the road to achieve something great tomorrow," the leader of the Dutch team said, motivating himself.

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Kuss wants to show off in front of his fans once more

"It’s the queen stage of this Vuelta, so it would be the perfect moment to do something special," Kuss continued. "It would be a great way to end this race. I’ve felt a lot of support from the fans along the roadside, and I want to give it my all for them in these last two days," said the defending Vuelta champion.

Kuss moved past Adam Yates (UAE-Team Emirates) into eleventh place but remains in a sort of no man's land. Pavel Sivakov, the tenth-placed rider in the general classification, is more than three minutes ahead of him.