Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard won’t ‘stick a knife in’ to Sepp Kuss in Vuelta a Espana - Daniel Lloyd
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Updated 14/09/2023 at 18:59 GMT
Sepp Kuss leads the way in the general classification at the Vuelta a Espana, but his Jumbo-Visma team-mates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, both remain in contention to take the title. The duo were criticised for leaving Kuss on his own to tackle the final two kilometres of Stage 17, but a show of unity at the end of Stage 18 demonstrated their backing of the American.
Roglic and Vingegaard won’t ‘stick a knife in’ to Kuss in Vuelta a Espana - Lloyd
Dan Lloyd and Adam Blythe believe Jumbo-Visma will do everything possible to help Sepp Kuss win the Vuelta a Espana.
The American leads the way in the GC standings in an all-Jumbo one, two, three along with Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, and Lloyd feels that while a team victory is the priority, the emphasis will be on getting Kuss over the line.
“If Sepp has a bad day on Saturday I don’t think they‘ll be waiting around for him, because this team has got to win the Vuelta a Espana,” he explained on The Breakaway.
“They’d be a laughing stock and it would be the worst thing possible if they didn’t win this race at this point.
“So, it comes down to Sepp’s legs this Saturday, but he’ll have the confidence that if his legs feel good they’re not going to stick a knife in his back at the last minute.
“I completely take my hat off to this team, including Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic.”
Following criticism of Roglic at the end of Stage 17, he and Vingegaard showed their commitment to helping Kuss to an overall victory.
Vingegaard slowed down heading to the finish line, allowing the red jersey rider to extend his lead over the Dane by nine seconds, a gesture praised by Lloyd.
“They were clearly wanting to ride the front and wanting to show the world and show us that they’re behind Sepp Kuss,” he added. “I said they should be riding for him at this point and they’ve done that.
"Sepp is obviously going to be incredibly happy that he’s now got the loyalty of the two team-mates that he’s been so loyal to in that team. We can now say they stuck by the leader of that race, and of their team."
Meanwhile, Blythe explained that Kuss deserves this treatment and feels it was the appropriate response after the American was abandoned by his team-mates with two kilometres remaining in Stage 17 on Wednesday.
“He deserves it," Blythe said. "Vingegaard and Roglic, they deserve to give to him.
“He’s done an incredible amount for Jumbo, and the noise that everyone’s made on social media, they can’t be ignored.
“They will have seen that and you can't ignore that. They probably looked at each other last night and had a chat with Richard [Plugge - team principal], who probably laid down the line, and said 'Kussy has to win this Grand Tour'.”
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Evenepoel completes hat-trick of wins in Vuelta with solo victory on Stage 18, Kuss retains red
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