Sepp Kuss was given the green light from his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate and maglia rosa Jonas Vingegaard to go for his own victory on the Piani di Pezzè summit in Alleghe on stage 19 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia.
It marked an important moment in the US rider's career, as his solo victory meant he had now won a stage in all three Grand Tours.
"It means so much. I knew that a Giro win was the last missing piece, I guess," Kuss told select members of the press in the mixed zone just past the finish line after celebrating with his mother, who had arrived that morning to watch the queen stage 19 in Alleghe.
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"In a way, it gave me a bit of pressure because I knew how bad I wanted it. At the same time, I knew how hard it was. Sometimes, the more you look for something, the harder it is to achieve it and the more mistakes you make along the way."
Kuss has been racing for Visma-Lease a Bike for nine seasons, and in that time, he has won two stages of the Vuelta a España and the overall title in 2023. He also won a stage of the Tour de France in 2021.
While he is a winner in his own right, he is often designated as a super domestique for Vingegaard and has supported him in all of his Grand Tour victories.
Vingegaard revealed after the stage that he appreciated all the support he had received from Kuss over the years, and that he spoke with him on the morning of the stage to let him know he could go for his own stage victory.
Kuss said the queen stage, which included climbs, Passo Duran, Coi, Forcella Staulanza, Passo Giau, and Passo Falzarego and then the final climb to the Piani di Pezzè summit in Alleghe, was well suited to him and the kind of parcours he thrives on.
"Today, when I knew that I would have the opportunity to go for it, I had a super focus, a super day, and I just enjoyed the day," Kuss said.
"These are the days that I look for, physical climbs, queen stages, that's what I love about cycling; the most challenging days. I just tried to enjoy it and not overthink it - just give my best."
Kuss rode into the winning breakaway of the day that included several of the top-10 riders in the overall classification, including Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), and Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling), all looking to move up the rankings.
Other riders in the move were eventual stage winner Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Jan Hirt (NSN Cycling).
While Visma-Lease a Bike managed the gap by about two minutes. Kuss calculated how he would win the stage. In the end, he surged on the final climb to catch and pass escapee Ciccone and take a solo victory.
"It was an interesting dynamic because there were a lot of GC guys in the group. They were working quite a bit. Ciccone went for the mountain points, saw he had a gap, and continued. The collaboration on the climb pretty much stopped, and going into the last climb, he had a pretty big gap, so to be honest, I thought it was over for us," Kuss detailed the final climb.
"The last climb is just so steep that I thought, 'just go for it and don't look back.' When I could see Ciccone ahead, I knew I was back in the game. I had to dig deep, and I knew Gee was not too far behind. I also knew that Ciccone would be pulling for Gee, and so I was suffering in the last kilometre, fighting the bike. Luckily, it all worked out."
Celebrating the victory with his mother, Kuss said it was an emotional moment in his career.
"It's really emotional, just to win the stage, not that I had doubts in myself, but I said in an early interview that I get better every year, but so does everyone else," he said.
"Sometimes, it's hard from the outside and hard to see that everyone gets better, to a new level, and that it is harder and harder to win in this sport. I'm just super grateful for the opportunity and proud to have pulled it off on a tough day like this."
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