Sepp Kuss ‘deserves a bit more respect’ – Geraint Thomas hits out at Jumbo-Visma over Vuelta a Espana controversy

Sepp Kuss “deserves a bit more respect” from Jumbo-Visma, according to Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers).

Despite wearing the leader’s red jersey and no rivals able to cope with the pace of the Jumbo train, the American was dropped by team-mates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic on the final climb of Stage 17 – a decision that has prompted much debate from fans and pundits.

Roglic, a three-time Vuelta champion, and Vingegaard, a two-time Tour de France champion, crossed the finish line first and second respectively, while Kuss, who is aiming for his first Grand Tour title, came home third 19 seconds later. He managed to retain the overall leader’s jersey by eight seconds.

Asked about the furore ahead of Stage 18, Thomas said: “I feel for Kuss, I feel like he deserves a bit more respect. Not necessarily from the [other] riders either, I think more from his team.

“I think the team should be stronger with that.”

Thomas then rounded on the riders, calling out Roglic – who beat him to the Giro d’Italia title on the final competitive stage earlier this year – in particular. Roglic is third in the overall standings, boasting a healthy gap on fourth, with Vingegaard most likely to dislodge Kuss from top spot in the GC.

“If it was close, the fight for the podium, for Roglic [then I could understand his attack] – but that’s pretty much sewn up anyway. Roglic isn’t going to win this tour, this Vuelta. So there was no real need for him to carry on to gain those extra seconds, in my view.

“He still could have won the stage, and his position in third is still solid, so I don’t think he needed to continue at that pace. He could have slowed up a little bit.”

After the stage, Breakaway pundits Sean Kelly, Adam Blythe and Dan Lloyd called Jumbo’s tactics “unfair”, “uncomfortable viewing” and a sign of “two huge egos” from Roglic and Vingegaard as they left their team-mate behind.

“There shouldn’t be any gifts in a Grand Tour win. It’s one thing gifting a stage, but I don’t think just because someone’s worked for you for years, you need to let them win,” added Thomas.

“But I don’t think that’s the case anyway. I think he [Kuss] is good enough to be in the position he’s in.”

When asked who he thought was going to win this Vuelta, Thomas said: “Vingegaard, maybe. But there’s a lot of pressure in that team now. There will be a lot of outside pressures as well. But obviously, I’d love to see Sepp win, and I think most of the peloton would as well.”

After hanging on to his lead on Wednesday, Kuss said: “It’s a position I never expected to be in and that’s the beautiful thing about it. I came in without any expectations. I was just looking to help the guys like always, but then I came into this beautiful jersey and all the experiences that come with it.”

Vingegaard and Roglic seemed to have different views on their preferred outcome, with the Dane insisting he wants Kuss to win: ““The win was our main goal and to keep the situation – one, two, three on GC – so I think everything went the way we wanted. I think we can be happy with everything, and, to be honest, I’m happy that Sepp is still in the jersey. I would love to see Sepp win this Vuelta.”

Roglic, however, said: “I’m the first one to say that Sepp is there with all our victories, he’s there. I’m here to race. I’m here to do my best, and at the end, the best one will win.”