Jumbo-Visma could hardly have raced a better stage in the Vuelta a España on Thursday. Sepp Kuss won the stage to the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre just as team leaders Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard chipped away at the time they lost to Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).
After giving up 26 seconds in the rainy stage 1 team time trial, a handful of seconds in time bonuses and one second on the stage to Arinsal, Vingegaard and Roglič were 37 and 43 seconds behind, respectively, before the stage. Now they are 5 and 11 seconds down on Evenepoel, respectively, albeit now almost three minutes adrift of new race leader Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ).
Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman declared the day a huge success.
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"The victory for Sepp and time gains for our leaders. It doesn't get any better than that. I am so proud of the whole team; it was a team effort," Zeeman said.
"We believed we could do something today - that we could make differences in the general classification by playing it smart. Sepp was really, really good on such a tough day. Jonas and Primož had to follow and attack when they sensed an opportunity. That tactic worked out well."
The pair put Evenepoel into difficulty on the steepest sections of the ascent but after seeing the Belgian champion fight to limit his losses to 32 seconds, the team don't think Evenepoel has cracked.
"We have experience with this. He just did well and was strong in the last kilometres," Zeeman said. "We had to take back time, he will now look for revenge. We still have two weeks to go."
Zeeman said the stage win for Kuss "wasn't exactly the plan" for the day, but added the whole team were happy for the US super-domestique.
"He is such an important rider for us, so loyal. Everyone is happy for him. This really counts for us. If you want someone to win, it's him."
Vingegaard agreed, saying Kuss "really is a fantastic guy. He deserves this. It is a pity that he didn't also take the red jersey, but the stage win is already fantastic.
"I felt pretty good myself, better than the previous days anyway. I suffered a bit in the early stages, but towards the end of the stage I got better."
Roglič, who couldn't quite follow Evenepoel on the Arinsal climb on Monday, was happier with his performance, too.
"The legs were much better today. We still have a long way to go, but today was a good day. I enjoyed it," Roglič said.
