‘At what cost?’ – Sean Kelly ponders Jumbo-Visma tensions ahead of Sepp Kuss’ Vuelta a Espana triumph

Sean Kelly wondered if Sepp Kuss’ imminent win at the Vuelta a Espana had harmed Jumbo-Visma as a team after what appeared to be tension amongst the leading trio.

Kuss is set to claim the title in Spain on Sunday’s final stage, but in the last week of the racing there had appeared to be disagreement between the riders and the team management.

It was not made clear whether Kuss had received direct backing from Jumbo-Visma, in terms of becoming the rider for the other team-mates to support given he led the general classification.

Both Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic left their American colleague behind with two kilometres to go on Stage 17, cutting into his lead at the top of the standings.

Roglic is the Giro d’Italia champion this year and Vingegaard has the 2023 Tour de France to his name, so Jumbo-Visma now seem set for a remarkable hat-trick of victories this year.

Speaking on The Breakaway on Eurosport, Adam Blythe was pleased that ahead of Sunday’s final stage Kuss is set to claim victory.

He said: “He’s what you see with Sepp. There’s no curtain he’s hiding behind. No games in interviews. He’s a very honest and loyal person. That comes across in how he conducts himself, how he rides.

“He knows that he has to fight a lot of the time, but I think it’s that respect he has across the peloton. No-one will ever say a bad word about Kuss. Even through all that’s happened in this team, all the chats, all the tactics, he will never ever say a bad word about anyone on that team. The soigneurs, the management, anyone. It would be very easy for him to do so with all the emotion going through him.

“He’s just a superstar, it’s brilliant.”

Kelly, however, was sceptical about whether there would not be ramifications over the team having to manage the ambitions of their three riders.

“The style of character he is,” he said. “To be a champion you have to be aggressive, you have to come out, that image, that killer instinct, and he doesn’t seem to have that. And physically he has it, but he doesn’t seem to have that character.”

Of his imminent victory, Kelly asked: “But at what cost? We saw what it took to get it from the team.

“It took a lot of time, it took a lot of pressure from the external part of the team. After a point they did that, and it did work out. What a great story it is for the riders and the team. But I’m a bit concerned with what went on, not just with Sepp but the two leaders.”

Kuss spoke at the end of the race and he said he was: “Super relieved. I’m still recovering from that last climb. Almost made it. I think it was perfectly in control thanks to the guys in the beginning and Robert [Gesink] and Dylan [Van Baarle] were pulling 90% of the day, of the stage.

“It was a long, hard day and they were out there all day. Big hats off to them, they were amazing all day. Primoz did a lot of work for me there on the last climb, and on the flat with Jonas, and that’s just something I never imagined.”

The three crossed the line together, and Kuss saaid: “It was a super-special moment. To be able to relax that much in the last K of a mountain stage with your two team-mates is really cool. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”