Primoz Roglic made 'big sacrifice' to help Jumbo-Visma team-mate Sepp Kuss win Vuelta a Espana - Jens Voigt

Updated 19/09/2023 at 13:29 GMT

Sepp Kuss became Jumbo-Visma's third Grand Tour champion of the year with victory at the Vuelta a Espana, after Primoz Roglic had won the Giro d'Italia and Jonas Vingegaard was the winner of the Tour de France. Eurosport expert Jens Voigt has reflected on the decision for Roglic and Vingegaard to support Kuss instead of fighting for their second major titles of the season.

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Eurosport cycling expert Jens Voigt understands the frustrations felt by Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard as they watched their team-mate Sepp Kuss take victory at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana.

Relations between the Jumbo-Visma riders appeared tense at times as Kuss led the general classification ahead of Roglic and Vingegaard.

Roglic and Vingegaard won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France respectively, with both riders keen to add another Grand Tour title to their palmarès.

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The tension came to its peak on Stage 17, when Roglic and Vingegaard left Kuss behind with two kilometres remaining and therefore cut his lead at the top of the standings.

There was outcry after the stage, with Eurosport expert Sean Kelly saying it was "unfair" for Roglic and Vingegaard to drop Kuss, who had helped support both of them in previous Grand Tour wins.

Harmony appeared restored with the final outcome of the race, and Voigt said Roglic in particular ended up making a sacrifice to allow Kuss to win.

“Vingegaard is the greatest champion and won the Tour de France. It is rare that the reigning Tour winner also rides the Vuelta," Voigt told

“So he comes there and thinks to himself, ‘There might be something else to get here too’. Roglic wins the Giro d'Italia and then has only the Vuelta on his mind throughout June and July.

“He completed a high-altitude training camp, looked at the routes and mountains, and ate accordingly. He invested a lot of strength, effort and time away from his family to win the Vuelta. Because that had been the plan for months.

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“So you ask him a big favour to throw away two or three months of his work and give it away. Because we have seen, if he had wanted to, he could have won the Vuelta. He would have been strong enough if he had attacked earlier or more forcefully. Roglic made a big sacrifice.

“It was very, very good for the image of the team and of Roglic and Vingegaard. They obviously struggled with it a bit, but that's understandable.

“How would Michael Schumacher have felt if he had been told in his prime that it was someone else's turn this year?

“It's hard for a champion like that to take a step back. Both had to take a big step.

"In the end everyone won, especially when it comes to humanity. It was a great thing for the image.”

Addressing the controversy at the end of Stage 17, Voigt said: “It can't be that Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard are attacking and Kuss, their team-mate, most loyal helper and also the overall leader, can't follow.

"Both of them cross the finish line with serious faces and say a minute later, ‘We really want Kuss to win’ and you think, ‘If that's what you want, you could stay with him. Or would that have been too much?’”

As Kaden Groves took victory in the final stage in Madrid, Kuss and his team-mates stayed clear of any trouble on procession and showed a sign of solidarity as they linked arms to finish the race and ensure a clean sweep of Grand Tours for the season.

Despite the display of unity, Voigt admits the apparent strain between the trio will be hard to shift.

"The actions and communication didn't match. In the end, yes, everyone had come to terms with the idea that there would be a real happy ending. Each of them won a Grand Tour," he added.

"How could they have humanly sold the idea of taking the jersey away from him?

"There has already been an enormous media outcry, largely in favour of Kuss. So they sat down and decided they can't help but let it go like this so that Kuss wins. So the team still achieved its goal of triumphing in all three tours."