Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> victories in decades.<\/p>\nIn 2023, Kuss was the domestique who became a champion, becoming the first American male in 10 years to win a grand tour.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t come easy after a bitter inter-squad battle with Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d and Jonas Vingegaard that came all down to the Angliru. His teammates attacked, but Kuss held on.<\/p>\n
On Friday, he returns for the first time to the monster mountain that crowned him Vuelta champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to win on Angliru,\u201d Kuss told Velo\u00a0at the line Thursday. \u201cI\u2019ve done it a few times and I\u2019ve had good feelings there, so we\u2019ll see what tomorrow brings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s assault will see Kuss return to his familiar role as superdomestique. With Vingegaard holding onto red, the initial focus will be on keeping the Dane in the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know what to expect. This Vuelta has been pretty close so far,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cThere are some guys who are surprising and riding well. You never know. We have a lot of confidence in Jonas and it\u2019s a climb that suits him perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drama of 2023 seems like a long time ago.<\/p>\n
Return to the beast: \u2018It was a special day for us\u2019
\n![\"Kuss\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1678693588-720x480.jpg\")
Kuss defended red and he carried the jersey to Madrid after the Angliru in 2023. (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Kuss, Vingegaard, and Rogli\u010d were in a three-way shootout for victory.<\/p>\n
This time, Rogli\u010d is gone, and Vingegaard is the unquestioned leader at Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n
The team rallied around the Dane since the start, who said he took important lessons from the last time he climbed the mighty Angliru in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a special day for us, we went one, two, three on the day,\u201d Vingegaard said when asked by Velo. \u201cThe whole Vuelta was special because we went one, two, three in Madrid.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, I have a lot of good memories from the Angliru, also it was the first time doing it when I was pulling for Rogli\u010d, so I hope to make some more good memories there tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, instead of racing against each other, Visma will be keeping a close eye on Jo\u00e3o Almeida, Tom Pidcock, and a host of other GC rivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most important days for the GC,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cIt\u2019s an iconic climb. There\u2019s nowhere you can hide, so you really have to give absolutely everything you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dane, who already has two stage wins in his pocket, admitted the race is unfolding ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur plan was to ride defensively the first 10 days, so to already have two stage wins is a nice feeling,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cTo be honest, so far the finishing climbs have been easier, but from now on they will be way harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Ride as hard as you can\u2019
\n![\"Angliru](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1678504368-720x480.jpg\")
Rogli\u0107, Vingegaard, and Kuss attack the Angliru, and each other, in 2023. (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Vuelta changes gears this weekend, with the Farrapona on Saturday. More treacherous terrain waits in week 3, with Morredero and Bola del Mundo still on the horizon.<\/p>\n
Up first is the fearsome Angliru, one of the steepest and gnarliest climbs in cycling.<\/p>\n
Kuss has raced it twice and knows what\u2019s in store.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be hard,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cIt\u2019s a longer stage than it normally is. That will add a different element to it. Other than that it\u2019s typical Asturias mountain roads. It\u2019s going to be very hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an important climb, we\u2019ll see what we can do. We\u2019re feeling good and riding well, and if there\u2019s an opportunity, we\u2019ll go for it. It\u2019s one of the key stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to tackle a climb so hard? Kuss said it\u2019s actually quite simple because there are no tactics at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about pacing it,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cThe hardest part, the Cabras, it\u2019s super steep. It\u2019s such a steep climb there, you cannot surprise anybody there. You just have to ride as hard as you can. It\u2019s pretty simple in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Angliru is the mountain that crowned Kuss in 2023. With third and sixth in previous attempts, maybe this time he can take the mountain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years after the Angliru made him a Vuelta winner, Kuss is back to ride for Vingegaard: ‘There’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,56902,67670,62507,57421,67671,54267],"class_list":{"0":"post-121839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-parent_category-road","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tag-american-racing","14":"tag-tag-angliru","15":"tag-tag-joao-almeida","16":"tag-tag-jonas-vingegaard","17":"tag-tag-sepp-kuss","18":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Sepp](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1678478953.jpg\")
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