Meanwhile, Van Aert settled into his own pace. Not long afterward, Kuss caught up with his Belgian teammate. An impressive Van Aert then guided Kuss toward the final climb to Collado del Alguacil. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike duo fought their way forward and joined the Nordhagen’s group. By then, the gap to the group of favorites had grown to more than five minutes. Nordhagen also did his share of the work on the steep final climb. In the end, Nordhagen and Kuss finished seventh and eighth, respectively, 4’30” behind stage winner Mikel Landa. In the overall standings, Kuss moved up to fifth place.
