We rarely get a cycling race telling such deep and meaningful stories within a single stage or Grand Tour. I’m letting you know right now, that I will not be able to fully express the beauty of what happened in Spain last year. But I want to focus on two different storylines… The polka-dotted phoenix Remco Evenepoel’s story of redemption and overcoming adversity. And the Red Eagle from Durango, Sepp Kuss, whose resolve and spirits lifted him to victory. Over more obstacles than what were drawn up in the parcourse.

I again implore you to watch the race in its entirety to fully understand how magnificent those 3 weeks were. Gerraint Thomas’ never “say die” attitude, in a grueling 3 weeks on the bike that he won’t soon forget. Or the entire Jumbo-Visma squad capping off a history Grand Tour trilogy by sweeping the podium at the final Grand Tour of the season. I still have the crudely hanged commemorative jersey behind me as I write this. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up with Jumbo-Visma’s “Colouring History” youtube video…

The race began with a very foreboding stage one. It was dark and dreary for the majority of the day but for Soudal Quickstep it was the darkest and dreariest. The Team Time Trial (TTT) started in Barcelona and ended in Barcelona with Remco Evenepoel screaming at the race director’s for their alleged poor race planning and inability to control the weather.

DSM ended up winning the stage, after being one of the few teams to finish in the sun. Soon after they crossed the line in Barcelona, they welcomed the mother of all summer storms. It opened up a dialog around racer safety and race design which is starting to ilicit change in course design presently.

What was supposed to be a beautiful sunset finish with the world’s best ITT rider’s sillouete against the backdrop. Turned into a violent hellscape in a deluge and darkness. Soudal finished 6 seconds behind DSM and Remco punctuated the stage by sharing his opinion of rider safety and the elements that he had to contend with during his surprisingly fast TTT.

photo: Road.cc

His problems didn’t end there… After completing a fantastic comeback to win Stage 3, he slammed into a member of the press or another team after posting up at the finish line. The camera showed him crossing the line then lying on the ground with a bloody face… Remco these are all signs…

But I want to jump to the historic 8th stage of the race where a Primoz Roglic Stage win goes surprisingly unnoticed as Sepp Kuss slides into the Maillot Rojo (Red Jersey)! Being the first American to wear a grand tour leaders jersey in over a decade! #GCKuss trended on the cycling segment of every social media platform out there. Some… Americans paid attention and we saw our nation being represented on the cycling MainStage! Sepp Kuss the American Eagle from Durango Colorado … or whatever Phill Liggett and Bob Roll call him… known as being one of the nicest guys in the peloton, is having his day in the sun. And I am absolutely in love with what is happening at this point. My attitude changes and I start to see red later though.

Photo: Cyclingnews

Stage 10 was the first stage where Sepp could have easily lost the leader’s jersey. Time trials are not his forte while the other 3 Vuelta favorites (Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and Primoz Roglic) are absolute killers in a TT. This spelled trouble for Sepp’s hopes of wearing red the next day. Sepp could not win the Vuelta today but he absolutely could have lost it and on paper, he probably should have. It was only thanks to a disappointing run by Jonas, finishing over a minute over the stage leader Ganna. Roglic finished 30 seconds behind Jonas, and then Remco 15 seconds behind him. But with an amazing performance, the Eagle swooped in only 1:29 behind Ganna and was able to keep the Red Jersey! 1:29 may sound like a lot compared to his teammates, but he put a tourniquet on the bleeding and really gave a performance that exceeded all expectations of him. In my opinion this was the true start of the rise of GCKuss.

Lucky Thirteen…

Stage 13 was an absolute nightmare for Remco Evenepoel and not a real dream scenario for Sepp Kuss either. It was a brutal stage on paper and an even more savage one on the race favorites. The parcourse started with two decent climbs followed by a finish at the top of the Col du Tourmalet! One of the most infamous climbs in all of professional cycling.

But we didn’t have to wait for the Tourmalet for the sparks to start flying. With almost 90km still to go, Remco Evenepoel cracks, breaks, and his soul leaves his body… Jumbo Visma couldn’t believe what they were seeing and just attacked with a hard steady pace at the front of the peloton. The entire Soudal team drops back with him, never leaving his side, as they guide him through the treacherous parcourse and up the tourmalet a full 30 minutes after the stage winner crosses! Remcos hopes of winning the Vuelta were over on stage 13. There was no coming back from this and he looked as if he was just gone.

The amount of self doubt he must have felt… he is the “New Generation” of professional cyclists and he just got dropped and lost by over a half an hour. This was Remco’s rock bottom. This was a test of his will to win and prove to nobody but himself, what kind of cyclist he is.

Back to the stage… with 8km to go and Remco over 20 minutes back by now, something happened that nobody saw coming. Jonas Vingegaard attacks while his teammate is in the leaders jersey. Creating a 30 second gap in only 2km. It was at this point of the race that I was screaming, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” at my television. I thought we were all in on #GCKuss! WTF are you doing Jonas?

Sepp didn’t take that attack sitting down. He attacks once from the group and with 4km to go and then again with 1.1km until the finish line. Scavenging enough seconds to keep his Red Jersey from his teammate Jonas Vingegaard. The first thing Sepp does is roll up to Jonas, give him a hug, and say his stage win was absolutely beautiful. Because that’s the kind of guy Sepp is. I was not as forgiving as Sepp was at that time and not the last time I’ll be questioning Jumbo Visma team tactics during this grand tour.

So to recap where we are at… Remco is in the pits of cycling hell and Sepp Kuss is still victorious in the leader’s jersey. In spite of his team tactics and support not because of it.

The Phoenix Rises From The Depths

Stage 14 was not a welcoming site for Remco Evenepoel I’m sure. After cracking brutally before the race even got going yesterday, and now he faces 2 Especial climbs with an average gradient of 8% just to finish on a mountaintop of a first category climb. Nobody knew what to expect from the fireworks at Jumbo-Visma and Sepp Kuss’ GC hopes… but the question everybody was asking was, “How will Remco respond?” We’ve never seen him under so much pressure so this would be a first for us to see how he responds to adversity… he responds well.

It started right off the bat with Remco jumping into the breakaway and sprinting for the 15 KOM points on the first climb. Then the top of the next climb… outsprints Bardet for top points. So he was going from GC favorite to the King of the Mountains! With 26km to go he and Bardet were over 6 minutes ahead of the peloton scooping every KOM and sprint point they can.

Photo: SoudalQuickstep

Then with 4km to go…. 8:20 ahead of the peloton the Belgian attacks off the front and pulls away from Bardet. After looking over his shoulder and seeing the slightest crack in Bardet’s form he saw his time to attack and take the stage win. Immediately after crossing the line, Remco collapsed on his bars sobbing. I can’t get in Remco’s head, but I can only imagine what he was thinking the night before… he knew he had to prove to himself that he was the Remco Evenepoel he always thought he was. He had to prove to his doubters, his fans and the rest of the peloton that he was dominant and he proved that on stage 14. He stood proud in that blue and white polka dot jersey knowing he was back. Knowing today wasn’t an amazing finish, it was his Vuelta only beginning.

Stage 15? Rinse and repeat… Remco scoops all the KOM points and gets top 10 in the stage. Two stages again he was almost a half hour behind the lead and now he wears the crown and it doesn’t look like anybody is able to take it off his head.

Friendly Fire!

Stage 16 wasn’t necessarily exciting in itself, but Jumbo Visma’s tactics in the last few kilometers were incredibly confusing and self-defeating. The last 4km of the stage consisted of Jumbo-Visma launching attacks on their leader Sepp Kuss. Jonas was the first to tear pavement up the climb, putting over a minute into Sepp. Roglic was next to go with under a kilometer left in the race, but later dropped back for the team leader. It’s here, I understand, that the team sponsors started to complain about the team looking dysfunctional and disorganized and were responsible for a more cohesive plan and about-face in team tactics.

Photo: LanternRougue Cycling Podcast Youtube

The real confusion and frustration for American cycling fans was stage 17. With less than 3km to go Primoz Roglic and Jonas VIngegaard attack again keeping Sepp Kuss trapped behind Mikel Landa as Primoz and Jonas rode off together. Even as Sepp Kuss was able to get back on Primoz’ wheel, Jonas turned it up and rode off the front from Sepp. Even Bob Roll mentioned that Jumbo Visma was getting the ire of cycling fans as they attack a teammate who has been so important to your success in every Grand Tour this season! Luckily Sepp was able to follow Landa to the line and edge in front of him for the 3rd place time bonus to keep the red jersey in spite of his teammates attacks.

Nobody was happy after Stage 17. But at the beginning of stage 18 Sepp Kuss looked particularly relaxed. As did Remco as he jumped into the breakaway and scooped up all the uncontested mountains points to further show his dominance and his determination to turn this Vuelta into a win. Maybe not in Red, but by leading with a crown on his head.

Finally Jumbo VIsma got the message and Jonas and Primoz started to ride for Sepp and protect the leader’s jersey. Jonas even dropped back at the finish to make sure Sepp’s lead had a larger buffer than it had. But of course Primoz finalizing the stage with his comments to the media of “I have my own thoughts about the tactics, but I’m here to help Sepp.” It was that moment that I became tired of Primoz Roglic, I know he’s an absolute assassin on the bike, and I like the wins he brought to Jumbo-Visma, but I was not sad to see him leave the team in 2024.

Photo: The Durango Herald

But what really topped the Vuelta was Remco Evenepoel taking the stage and crossing the line pointing to his head. Signaling it’s all in the head… his determination to win and to prove to himself that he is a giant of the sport even at such a young age. I swear he looked stronger crossing the line at that stage than he had all Vuelta.

Stage 20 ended with the Jumbo trio sitting up with Jonas and Primoz escorting Sepp across the line and hugs aplenty. Sepp Kuss has won the Vuelta and Remco has decimated the peloton for King of the mountain. Jumbo VIsma unveiled a beautiful black kit with a Pink, Yellow and Red line across the torso, representing the sweet of the Grand Tours. #ColouringHistory.

As I write this I’m thinking about how long this piece took me to write. I re-watched the Vuelta, read Ned Boulting’s Road Book review of the race, and brushed up with the extended highlights on youtube. I also watched the Jumbo Visma Colouring History video that still makes my eyes well up. I’m trying to relive the experience but its’ hard to since so much has already happened since. But to experience this moment as a cycling fan and the winners continuing to win, even when they are down and out and alone behind bars of carbon fiber they are never undetermined. They always keep pedaling.

Whether the Vuelta moves you as it moved me isn’t what is important to get from this race. What is important is keeping yourself in the right frame of mind even when it feels impossible to be able to.

When you are 30 minutes down and expected to win. Or you’re struggling due to your own team’s friendly fire, keep focused on the end goal and know that you are that rider. You’re that person that can overcome the obstacles you had never thought you’d ever have to overcome.

At the end of the day and the end of the race, Sepp Kuss won, Remco was King, and Roglic’s exit was all but certain. But it was very appropriate to me that the final Grand Tour to allow Jumbo Visma to sweet in 2023, was so dramatic and was won by such a worthy cyclist.

#GCKussForever