Sepp Kuss

Sepp Kuss, born in Durango, Colorado, Kuss grew up competing in a variety of sports from Nordic skiing, to kayaking and running before finally settling into cycling in his senior year of high school. As a student at the University of Colorado-Boulder studying advertising, Kuss switched from mountain biking, a discipline in which he won three collegiate titles, to a road focus in 2016.
By 2023, Kuss had a reputation as one of the best climbers in the peloton and won the GC title at the Vuelta a España with Jumbo-Visma, the first US rider to win that Grand Tour in a decade. It was the fifth straight Grand Tour of his career, and he showcased his climbing ability with a win on stage 6 of that Vuelta at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambra. He had already proved his worth by helping Primož Roglič win the Giro d'Italia and Jonas Vingegaard capture his second Tour de France.
His top results on the road began in 2017 at North American UCI stage races, second-place overall at the Tour of Alberta and a stage win at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, which earned him a multi-year contract at the WorldTour level with Lotto-Jumbo. In his first year with Jumbo, Kuss banked a full spring of experience-building race days including the Critérium du Dauphiné. After returning home, Kuss won three stages, the overall and mountains classifications at the Tour of Utah and competed in his first Grand Tour directly afterward.

In 2019, Kuss raced at the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage and helped Roglič win the overall, showing himself as a loyal and strong mountain domestique. By 2020, Kuss established himself as a 'super-domestique' - riding to 15th overall in his first Tour de France while helping Roglič to second overall.

In his second Tour de France, Kuss won stage 15 in Andorra, his home base in Europe, and helped Jonas Vingegaard to second overall. In 2022, Kuss was on the Tour de France winning squad when Vingegaard claimed his first title but fell ill during the Vuelta and dropped out before stage 9. 

Kuss hit great heights in 2023 as he secured the overall victory at the Vuelta a España, which closed out a historic season. Kuss had already been successful in 2023 as the key climbing domestique for Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard at their respective Giro d’Italia and Tour de France victories but made history at the Vuelta as the first US rider to win one of cycling’s Grand Tours since Chris Horner in 2013.

Kuss had a pair of top 10s and finished a disappointing 14th at the 2024 Vuelta a España, and said he preferred the role as a mountain helper rather than being in the spotlight as a GC leader. His season was far from registering as a failure, as the proficient climber won the overall at Vuelta a Burgos and claimed the mountain classification at Itzulia Basque Country. 

Victories

2024

🥇 GC win at Vuelta a Burgos

🥇 Mountain classification at Itzulia Basque Country

2023

🥇 One stage and GC at Vuelta a España

2022

🥇 One stage (TTT) at Vuelta a España 

2021

🥇 One stage at Tour de France

2020

🥇 One stage at Critérium du Dauphiné

2019

🥇 One stage at Vuelta a España

2018

🥇 GC and three stages at Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah

2017

🥈 GC and one stage at Tour of Alberta

2016

🥇 One stage at Tour de Beauce

🥇 One stage at Redlands Bicycle Classic