As Wout van Aert powered across the finish line in Cordoba to claim his second stage in five days at the Vuelta a España, his teammate Sepp Kuss could be seen at the back of the small lead group, too, punching his arm in the sky in celebration.
And while the American said afterwards that Van Aert’s stage 7 victory felt like a triumph to him, his own contribution to his win had not been a small one, either.
After a lengthy drive first by another Visma-Lease A Bike man Edoard Affini and then by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe to the top of the sole climb of the day, the late Alto del 14%, Kuss found himself alone at the summit with Van Aert in the group of some 20 riders.
Rather than hang back in the mini-peloton, though, as many GC riders would have done, the reigning Vuelta champion hit the front to play a crucial role on the run-in to Van Aert’s victory.
On the descent and flat run back to Cordoba, he did so by putting in some massive turns to bring back late attacker Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and keep the rest of the front group under control.
Kuss explained later that it had been “a suffer-fest” to do such hard work so late in the stage, and the temperatures soaring to 40 degrees again in the Spanish south. His light climber’s build surely made it even tougher for him to pull back Soler. But after the finish, his delight at contributing to Van Aert’s second Vuelta success was palpable, too.
“We always had this stage in mind for Wout, but we knew it would be hard, especially with the pace on the last climb,” Kuss told a small group of reporters after the stage.
“But when we saw he was still there, I knew he was on a good day, so I tried to keep things together. It was a suffer-fest to pull Soler back, but it feels like a victory for me too, it was really nice to be there with Wout.”
When Soler had been caught following a 16km chase and with the front group almost in the finish city, Kuss confirmed that he had been afraid that there would be attacks and admitted that he maybe made “a minor error by slowing down a bit and asking other guys to pull.
“In such small groups, there are always going to be attacks. But Wout is cool and sharp enough to know which ones to follow.”
Van Aert, speaking shortly after speeding to the win from the group consisting largely of GC favourites, was quick to praise Kuss for his vital contributions over the closing 25km.
“On the top, I found myself alone with Sepp Kuss in the front group, so it was really difficult to manage, but Sepp did an amazing job. I don’t know if people realise what it’s like when you’re below 60kg and you do that kind of pull on the flat. I had goosebumps on the wheel and I just wanted to finish it off, so this is a really big one.
“In our team, it’s not only about winning but about performing as a team and making challenging plans. A part of that is that everybody dares to sacrifice himself for the others. The defending champion of this race pulling for you is a huge example of our team philosophy and because of that, I’m so proud.”
Kuss may have been a little out of his element in the Classics-style finale but, as he said, he had the ideal teammate to both close down the moves that needed controlling and then go for the win.
But, come this weekend, as the race hits the mountains of Andalucía – including the three first-category climbs of Sunday’s stage 9, Kuss will be back on much more familiar terrain – and likely looking to attack for himself.
