Primoz Roglic wins Stage 17 at Vuelta a Espana as Jumbo-Visma stars distance red jersey Sepp Kuss on the Angliru

ByFelix Lowe

Updated 13/09/2023 at 18:44 GMT

Sepp Kuss clung onto the red jersey by just eight seconds ahead of team-mate Jonas Vingegaard after Primoz Roglic led home another Jumbo-Visma 1-2-3 on the mythical Alto de l’Angliru. American Kuss was dropped by his team-mates in the misty closing kilometres of Stage 17 but battled back to keep his red hopes alive as Jumbo’s intriguing leadership conundrum hit fresh heights at La Vuelta.

Just as they did on the Col du Tourmalet, Jumbo-Visma posted an emphatic one-two-three on the legendary Col de l’Angliru with Primoz Roglic taking his second stage win of the race ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and birthday boy Sepp Kuss.

And yet that merely scratches the surface of a beguiling display of team diplomacy in Stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana.

Dropped by his team-mates with 2km of the final climb to go, the American race leader Kuss battled to limit his losses and – thanks to a little help from Spain’s Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) – crossed the line atop the mist-clad Angliru 19 seconds behind his co-leaders.

Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia 2024: Stage routes and start times, TV and live stream schedule

06/05/2024 at 08:30

The smile etched across Kuss’s face was reflected soon after with the news that he had retained the red jersey with a reduced lead of just eight slender seconds over Vingegaard, with Roglic staying third but closing his deficit to 1:08 with four stages remaining.

Roglic later insisted that he was simply “doing my own tempo” when he and Vingegaard distanced Kuss in the closing moments of the stage. When pressed, a torn Roglic – the three-time Vuelta winner and reigning Giro champion – said that, while he hoped Kuss wins a maiden Vuelta on Sunday, he also had to consider his own ambitions.

Paying tribute to a rider who helped both him and Vingegaard to their respective Giro and Tour triumphs earlier in the season, a dewy-eyed Roglic said: “I’m the first one to say that Sepp is there with all our victories. I wish he wins. But looking to myself and my responsibilities, who I am, I’m here to race, I’m here to do my best, and at the end, the best one will win.”

Vingegaard echoed Roglic in his own interview in which he chose his words carefully – deflecting a question about what went through his mind when Kuss was dropped by stressing his hope that the American holds on for a maiden Grand Tour victory in Madrid.

“The win today was our main goal and to keep the situation – one, two, three on GC – so I think everything went the way we wanted,” Vingegaard said. “I think we can be happy with everything and, to be honest, I’m happy that Sepp is still in the jersey. I would love to see Sepp win this Vuelta a Espana.”

'They're not waiting!' - Kuss dropped by Jumbo-Visma team-mates

Kuss’s wobble came once the victory was already assured for Jumbo-Visma after the team's trio of leaders had come to the fore on the steepest section of the Angliru on which they put their rivals to the sword.

Until that point, Landa’s Bahrain-Victorious had set a strong tempo on the early slopes of the mythical climb – not only reeling in lone leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) but whittling the GC group down to just a handful of riders.

After Santiago Buitrago and Wout Poels passed the reins to Landa, Roglic came to the front with an acceleration that, initially, only Kuss could follow. Vingegaard soon dropped Landa and joined his team-mates as they crawled through the mist on the decisive double-digit Cuena les Cabres section of the climb.

If it looked like a show of solidarity and strength following the confusion that reigned when Vingegaard ate into Kuss’s lead with his Stage 16 victory 24 hours earlier, things soon became even more hazy when Kuss saw a gap open in front of him on the final push to the summit and was immediately on the radio.

Instead of easing up, however, Roglic – with the bit between the teeth and Vingegaard on his wheel – pressed on in pursuit of his second, and his team’s fifth win on this intriguing 78th edition of La Vuelta.

Kuss may have folded were it not for the arrival of Landa, who helped pace him up the final part of the goat path to the ridgeline, where the road evened out before dropping to the finish.

Roglic wins Stage 17 ahead of Vingegaard after duo drop team-mate Kuss

With the realisation that he lived to fight another day in red came the smile of relief across the Kuss’s face. It was perhaps not the 29th birthday present he had envisaged, but a gift of sorts that he accepted with open arms nonetheless.

When quizzed by Alberto Contador – winner on the Angliru back in 2017 one day before his retirement – about his unlikely stint in the red jersey, Kuss delivered, like his team-mates, an interview full of contradictions and question marks.

“It’s a position I never expected to be in and that’s the beautiful thing about it,” he said.

“I came in without any expectations and I was just looking to help the guys – like always – but then I came into this beautiful jersey and all the experiences that come with it. I discovered a new level of self-confidence, of racing instinct, and that was really, really beautiful.

'Two big champions' - Kuss diplomatic after getting dropped on Stage 17

“Also with two guys who, behind the scenes, we work really well together. They’re two big champions. But I also want my shot. But I also am happy to work for them when it’s called for. So, yeah, it’s been a beautiful experience.”

The earlier part of the 125km stage in Asturias, north-west Spain, was animated by Evenepoel’s push for polka dot jersey points – the defending champion getting himself in an early break with team-mate Mattia Cattaneo and cresting the summit of the first two climbs in pole position to strengthen his grip in the KOM standings.

• La Vuelta a Espana Stage 17 recap: Kuss holds onto red as Roglic takes win

But any hopes of a third stage win were put paid by Jumbo-Visma, who seemed bent on giving Evenepoel no gifts despite him languishing over 30 minutes down in the standings following his implosion on the Aubisque in week two.

Evenepoel was being chased for large swathes of the stage by Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), who put in a kamikaze attack on the Alto de la Colladiella but never came within a minute of the lone leader. Soler crested the Alto del Cordal with just a handful of seconds over the pack, and was duly caught – and spat out – at the start of the Angliru, the mercurial climber plummeting seven places and out of the top 10.

'Unfair, uncomfortable viewing' - Breakaway react to Kuss getting dropped on Stage 17

While Evenepoel appeared to be getting into a good rhythm, the 24-year-old was caught by the Bahrain-led red jersey group with around six kilometres remaining – although he now holds a 40-point lead over Vingegaard in the KOM standings.

Bahrain put all their bodies on the front for Landa, who can consider it a victory of sorts to finish the best of the rest behind a Jumbo-Visma trio that has proved in a league of their own over the roads of Spain.

Landa’s solid fourth place saw the Basque climber move up two places to fifth in the general classification, one place above compatriot Enric Mas (Movistar), who was dropped with around 4km remaining. Belgian tyro Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-hansgrohe) rose two places and above team-mate Aleksandr Vlasov into seventh after coming seventh, while Buitrago’s pacing of Landa saw the Colombian move into tenth.

Vingegaard 'would love to see Kuss winning Vuelta' despite dropping him

While Kuss will take only an eight-second lead into Stage 18, there remains no doubt that the ultimate owner of the red jersey will come from Jumbo-Visma. The nearest challenger to the team’s stranglehold is the 20-year-old Spaniard Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) who battled to ninth place on the Angliru but now finds himself four minutes adrift of the race summit.

Thursday’s 179km Stage 18 features five categorised climbs including the summit finish at La Cruz de Linares where Vingegaard and Roglic’s combined desire for Kuss to win this Vuelta will be no doubt put to the test.

- - -

Stream the Vuelta a Espana 2023 and much more top cycling action live on Eurosport and discovery+

Cycling

'Now it's time to fully recover' - Vingegaard released from hospital after crash

16/04/2024 at 15:30

Giro d'Italia

'All I'm thinking about now is the Giro' - Thomas focused on first Grand Tour of the season

16/04/2024 at 07:39

Paris - Roubaix Men

Vingegaard 'a little bit better every day,' says Visma boss, also issues Van Aert update

07/04/2024 at 12:49