Sepp Kuss (born September 13, 1994) is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

Career

Kuss started out in mountain bike racing as a junior and as a student at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

won two races at the Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in 2014, and another in 2015 becoming a two time mountain bike xc national champion. When asked what his cycling ambitions were, he said he wanted to take cycling as far as he could after finishing his degree. When asked one person he could sit and have lunch with he answered

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovakia, Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

. Kuss began the 2016 season racing for the amateur Gateway Harley Davidson / Trek team. His first win was on a summit finish stage in the

Redlands Bicycle Classic The Redlands Bicycle Classic is a cycling stage race located in Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at t ...

. Kuss finished fourth at the Mogollon stage at the Tour of the Gila, a UCI 2.2 stage race. He rode with in the latter part of 2016 and during 2017, before joining , initially on a two-year contract. He rode in the

2018 Vuelta a España The 2018 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain between 25 August and 16 September 2018. The race was the 73rd edition of the Vuelta a España and was the final Grand Tour of the 2018 cycling seas ...

and the

2019 Giro d'Italia The 2019 Giro d'Italia was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race organised by RCS Sport that took place mainly in Italy, between 11 May and 2 June 2019. The race was the 102nd edition of the Giro d'Italia and was the first Grand Tour of the ...

. before getting his first grand tour stage win in stage 15 of the 2019 Vuelta a España, launching a solo attack from the day's breakaway with 7 kilometers to go, and supporting his team leader Primož Roglič who won the overall classification. He finished 15th overall in the

2020 Tour de France The 2020 Tour de France was the 107th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. Originally scheduled to start on 27 June 2020, it was postponed until 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The race began ...

, while again riding in support of Roglič. This was also the highest overall placing for an American since Andrew Talansky in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. Kuss again supported Roglič's winning ride in the 2020 Vuelta a Espana. In July 2021, Kuss won stage 15 of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

after breaking away with 5 km to go to up the final climb of the day, the Col de Beixalis, from a group that had contained 32 riders. He was able to maintain his lead ahead of Spaniard

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009 ...

in the 15 km that followed the pass. With this win Kuss became the first American to win a stage of the Tour de France since

Tyler Farrar Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

, who won stage 3 in 2011. During the

2021 Vuelta a España The 2021 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in Spain between 14 August and 5 September 2021. It was the 76th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final grand tour of the 2021 men's road cycling season. T ...

Kuss and his teammates Steven Kruijswijk and Sam Oomen rode in support of Roglič, who was going for his third consecutive Vuelta title. Kuss started the race strong taking the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

jersey for two stages. He proved himself to be one of the strongest riders in the race on the climb to Lagos de Covadonga on stage 17. As the finish line approached the sprint for second place began after Roglič won the stage and Kuss beat everyone else to the line to deny the bonus seconds to Roglič's rivals. He ended the race in eighth place overall, the highest for an American since Talansky in five years earlier. This was his first top 10 in a

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...

, as Roglič once again won the Vuelta. As a warm up for the upcoming Tour, Team Jumbo-Visma sent their primary favorites in Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard to the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

, while Kuss was given the opportunity to ride in the

2022 Tour de Suisse The 2022 Tour de Suisse was a road cycling stage race that took place between 12 and 19 June 2022 in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It was the 85th edition of the Tour de Suisse and the 22nd event of the 2022 UCI World Tour. Teams All eightee ...

and target the general classification. Kuss rode strongly and was within +0:10 of the lead after stage 4, but prior to stage 5 the entire team had to abandon the race due to COVID. During the first two weeks of the 2022 Tour de France he rode in support of Roglič, Vingegaard and

Wout Van Aert Wout van Aert (born 15 September 1994) is a Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the men's elite race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He joined in M ...

as the team sought stage wins and to challenge defending champion Tadej Pogačar for the

Yellow Jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

, both of which they were successful in doing. After the withdrawal of Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk crashing out on stage 15 it became clear the heavy work of defending Vingegaard would fall on Kuss in the final high mountain stages. He shepherded Vingegaard up Hautacam, the final HC climb, as he had done for Roglič so many times in other grand tours, until the Dane attacked and tightened his grip on the race. The team was so successful that they held the yellow, green and polka dot jerseys as the race neared its end, and won them.

Major results

;2014 : 1st MaillotUSA

National Collegiate XCO MTB Championships : 1st MaillotUSA

National Collegiate XCC MTB Championships ;2015 : 1st MaillotUSA

National Collegiate XCO MTB Championships ;2016 : 1st Stage 2

: 6th Overall Tour de Beauce ::1st Stage 2 ;2017 : 2nd Overall Tour of Alberta : 6th Overall Colorado Classic : 8th Overall Tour of the Gila : 9th Overall Tour of Utah ;2018 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Utah ::1st Jersey bluedot

Mountains classification ::1st Stages 2, 5 & 6 ;2019 : 1st Stage 15

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

: 5th Japan Cup ;2020 : 8th Overall

Tour de la Provence The Tour de la Provence is an early-season bicycle stage race in the Provence region of France. It is organized by southern French newspaper La Provence, which serves as the race's title sponsor for its first three years. It is held in February, ...

: 10th Overall

::1st Stage 5 :

::Held

after Stage 1 ;2021 : 1st Stage 15

: 8th Overall

::Held

after Stages 1 & 2 ;2022 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 3rd Faun-Ardèche Classic

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Sources:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuss, Sepp 1994 births Living people American male cyclists American people of Slovenian descent People from Durango, Colorado American Tour de France stage winners American Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists from Colorado 20th-century American people 21st-century American people