Sepp Kuss will roll out from Lisbon for the start of the Vuelta a España intent on defending his overall title there, and Visma-Lease a Bike is expected to have a solid team around the 29-year-old American – but the highest-profile rider on that squad will be riding for his own goals in the year’s final Grand Tour.
Now in his sixth year at the WorldTour level, Wout van Aert will be making his Vuelta debut next week, and he will be on the hunt for stages over the three-week trek across Portugal and Spain. Even if Visma has one of the favorites to win the overall title, the team will support Van Aert’s ambitions.
“Sepp is the reigning champion, but not the top favorite to win this Vuelta, which means Wout won’t have to sacrifice himself in every mountain stage,” Visma sports director Grischa Niermann said in a recent interview with Sporza.
“In the Tour there were only 2.5 favourites and we had one of them with Jonas Vingegaard. In the Vuelta there are six or seven teams that can take the final victory. In Spain we will not have to control every mountain stage from kilometer zero, which means Wout will have a different role to the Tour.”
The Vuelta start has been in Van Aert’s plans all season long, even though a crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen derailed his Classics campaign and his scheduled Giro d’Italia debut. Given how hard he has worked in support of his teammates over the years, it does make some sense that Visma would give him a free role at the Vuelta regardless of their belief in Kuss.
“Wout is very motivated to prove himself again this year, because he is a rider who wants to win races (and his last victory dates back to Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the end of February),” Niermann said.
“As a team we will do everything we can to help him win a stage in the Vuelta. He deserves it.”
According to Niermann, Visma sees at least five opportunities for the fast-finishing Van Aert to nab stage wins at the Vuelta.
Kuss, for his part, is coming off of a statement performance at the Vuelta a Burgos, where he won a stage and the overall title in evidence of his strong form ahead of his Vuelta a España title defense. As he put it after his stage victory, “I am ready to defend my title in the Vuelta.”
Despite the free role that Van Aert will have, Visma will certainly be planning to back Kuss’s chances with the remainder of the team’s firepower. At the moment, the team’s Vuelta roster also looks set to include Steven Kruijswijk, Robert Gesink, Ben Tulett, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Dylan van Baarle and Wilco Kelderman. And even if Van Aert is focused on hunting stages, it’s likely he’ll pinch in a bit when he can.
All told, it’s a strong lineup with a mix of experience and youth and riders who can contribute on all kinds of terrains, even if it’s not quite the powerhouse squad the team brought to last year’s race, where Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard, and Primož Roglič went an unprecedented one-two-three in the general classification while simultaneously serving up some entertaining drama for fans to enjoy. What’s more, Kuss will need all the help he can get if he is to to take on the other big squad in the race (and in Grand Tours generally these days): UAE Team Emirates.
Tadej Pogačar has decided not to attempt a Grand Tour triple this season, but that doesn’t mean that UAE won’t have a real chance at winning the Vuelta courtesy of a stacked lineup headlined by Adam Yates, João Almeida, and Isaac del Toro. Juan Ayuso, who has twice finished on the Vuelta podium, had been expected to make the start, but recent reports suggest that he will be left off of the roster. In any case, UAE will be a force to be reckoned with.
Whether Kuss and Co. can stand up to their collective firepower remains to be seen, especially if the typically stalwart Van Aert has other things on his mind. What isn’t in doubt is that Visma has a knack for delivering intra-team intrigue in the final race of the season.
What did you think of this story?