Few were expecting Sepp Kuss to win a stage at this Giro d\u2019Italia \u2013 maybe not even Kuss himself.<\/p>\n
But that didn\u2019t stop the \u201cEagle of Durango\u201d from ending his victory drought in sensational fashion Friday in a brutal mountain tappone<\/em> through the high Dolomites.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say it was easy for this purest of climbers.<\/p>\n Kuss explained after stage 19 he battled internal pressure and competitive doubts as he rode into the history books and became only the second U.S. rider after Tyler Farrar to win stages at the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means so much. I knew that a Giro win was the last missing piece,\u201d Kuss told Cycling Pro Net.<\/em> \u201cIt gave me a bit of pressure in a way, I knew how bad I wanted it, and at the same time, I knew how hard it was.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes the harder you look for something, the harder it is to achieve it and the more mistakes you make on the way,\u201d Kuss said after his montaintop win in Alleghe.<\/p>\n He needn\u2019t have worried.<\/p>\n His ride in the breakaway on the hardest stage of this Giro d\u2019Italia could have been from a textbook.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really emotional. It\u2019s not that I ever had doubts in myself, it\u2019s just that I get better every year, but so does everybody else,\u201d Kuss said Friday. \u201cSometimes, from the outside it\u2019s hard to see that.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody gets better and everybody gets to a new level, but it gets\u00a0harder and harder to win in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, Kuss shouldn\u2019t have been concerned.<\/p>\n His attack to reel in Giulio Ciccone on the final summit of a devastating 5,000m+ day in the Dolomites reinforced what we already know. Kuss is Climbing King.<\/p>\n This was a result that felt a long time coming.<\/p>\n Kuss hadn\u2019t taken the winner\u2019s photo since summer 2024 \u2013 and even then, it was at the low-key Vuelta a Burgos.<\/p>\n Before that, the Colorado star hadn\u2019t won a race since his against-all-odds GC victory at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a 2023.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old acknowledged the struggle to keep up in a peloton that\u2019s accelerating fast.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [the grand tour sweep] was always something I dreamt of,\u201d Kuss said after the stage. \u201cBut every year it gets harder and harder to win.<\/p>\n \u201cI keep progressing and getting better, but so does everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n That Kuss repeated those concerns in two post-stage interviews Friday is perhaps telling.<\/p>\n The rider once labeled \u201cUSA\u2019s next grand tour winner\u201d \u2013 a label he was never comfortable with \u2013 has been quiet.<\/p>\n Kuss didn\u2019t explode in the way some expected after he overcame team tensions to top a Visma 1-2-3 at the 2023 Vuelta.<\/p>\n He was beat back by fatigue in 2024, and struggled to hold his best level in 2025.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Matteo Jorgenson replaced his teammate as the darling of U.S. cycling.<\/p>\n Breakout Italian Davide Piganzoli even usurped Kuss as Vingegaard\u2019s last man in Visma\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia mountain train.<\/p>\n But Kuss just reminded everyone \u2013 and himself \u2013 that form is temporary. Class is permanent.<\/p>\n The eternal domestique was given the green light by maglia rosa<\/em> teammate Vingegaard to roam on Friday, and he didn\u2019t miss his chance.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, when I knew I would have the opportunity to go for it, I just had this super focus, a super day,\u201d Kuss said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just enjoyed the day. These are the days I live for, big climbs, mythical climbs, queen stages,\u201d he continued. \u201cThese most challenging days are what I love about cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuss has made winning hard grand tour stages his thing<\/em>. His victories at the 2019 and 2023 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and 2021 Tour de France were all born from uphill suffering.<\/p>\n Kuss may have dropped a spot in Visma\u2019s mountain train at this Giro d\u2019Italia, but the 31-year-old remains one of the peloton\u2019s greatest climbing domestiques.<\/p>\n He pulled Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d to victory three times at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and once at the Giro d\u2019Italia. He helped Vingegaard win his two Tour de France titles. He was MVP again when Vingegaard won last year\u2019s Vuelta.<\/p>\n As Visma-Lease a Bike team boss Richard Plugge once said: \u201cSepp is the mailman \u2013 he always delivers.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuss has been instrumental in all of the Killer Bees\u2019 grand tour wins, except for Simon Yates\u2019s pink jersey coup exactly 12 months ago.<\/p>\n And of course, Kuss will be at Vingegaard\u2019s side again this summer at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n Vingegaard hailed the best mountain helper in the game after the stage on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so incredibly happy for Sepp to win a stage, and it feels special for me as well,\u201d Vingegaard told Cycling Pro Net<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has always been there for me, in all the grand tour victories, never asking for something for himself. Even today I had to say \u2018you can go for your chance today.\u2019 He deserves it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Vingegaard seemed as happy for Kuss in his post-race interview Friday as all of us felt on the couch.<\/p>\n When this fan-favorite wins, everybody wins.<\/p>\n \u201cSepp just told me that he thought this stage win would never happen, but now it has, I think that in a way it also completes his career,\u201d Vingegaard said. \u201cIt is a special day for our entire team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/giro-ditalia\/sepp-kuss-reminds-everyone-class-is-permanent\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Giro-dItalia-2026-Stage-7-HarryTalbot-6131-2.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated May 30, 2026 05:02AM Few were expecting Sepp Kuss to win a stage at this Giro d\u2019Italia \u2013 maybe not even Kuss himself. But that didn\u2019t stop the \u201cEagle of Durango\u201d from ending his victory drought in sensational fashion Friday in a brutal mountain tappone through the high Dolomites. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1963450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1963450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1963450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1963450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1963450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Kuss blasts back into the eyeline<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FF29156-1200x890.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
\u2018These are the days I live for\u2019<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2278033750.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Vingegaard hails Visma\u2019s grand tour kingmaker<\/h2>\n
![\"Kuss](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SP207753-1200x1212.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")