The Vuelta a España time trial shuffled the general classification but Sepp Kuss remains in the race leader’s red jersey and his Jumbo-Visma team are convinced they can still face up to Remco Evenepoel in the vital mountain stages in the Pyrenees with three leaders: Kuss, Primož Roglič and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.
Kuss’ lead on Evenepoel is down from 2:22 to 1:09, with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) sitting between them at 26 seconds. Roglič has moved up to fourth at 1:26 after losing just 20 seconds to Evenepoel, while Vingegaard is seventh overall, 2:22 down on Kuss after losing a significant 1:02 to Evenepoel.
Despite the Dane now sitting 46 seconds behind Roglič, Jumbo-Visma continue to publicly play their triumvirate leadership strategy.
“Kuss is still more than a minute ahead of Evenepoel and Roglič did a great time trial, he only lost twenty seconds. It goes without saying that we are in a great position,” Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Marc Reef told Eurosport.
“We had hoped for less time loss for Vingegaard but he gave everything and fully focused on the time trial. His terrain, the high mountains, are yet to come.”
Vingegaard has kept a low profile so far in the Vuelta a España and did not speak after his time trial. Roglič was more open and suggested Jumbo-Visma will continue to ride to protect Kuss’ lead in the days before the Col du Tourmalet mountain finish on Friday.
“Sepp is still the one to go for it. He’s in red,” Roglič suggested to Evenepoel.
“I suffered a lot but I’m happy with the result. It could have been worse, I won’t complain.
Jumbo-Visma used their strength in numbers to crack Tadej Pogacar to win the 2022 Tour de France and Kuss hopes to add a third dimension to the team’s plans for the 2023 Vuelta.
“We've still got three very strong options, and I've shown I've got good legs. In my opinion, if you have good legs in the Pyrenees and on the Angliru, you can get a minute very quickly on the rest," he suggested.
"We have to play our cards with the three of us because Soudal may be a bit weak in the mountains. If we can isolate Remco, we can do something with that.
“So much can happen in the mountains. In the first half of a Grand Tour, it's always a game of seconds. But then, in just one stage you can blow up.
"I feel really good, Primož and Jonas are looking good as well, giving me a lot of help and helping boost my morale. In the team, our mood is really good.”
