Primoz Roglic and Vingegaard Drop Sepp Kuss on Angliru | Vuelta a Espana 2023 Stage 17

Lanterne Rouge presents highlights of Vuelta a Espana 2023 Stage 17

Credits:
Footage | Amaury Sport Organisation
Photos | Cor Vos (unless stated otherwise)

[visfanaat]

This must be one of the strangest grand tours ever. From day 1 to now.... just crazy.

[berekethaile]

The best quote of all time : " There is no Sep Kuss for Sep Kuss on Angliru"

[mondo]

Landa rode well for Kuss, probably saved Kuss's red jersey, similar to the way Kuss saved the entire Giro for Roglic earlier this year. It is what it is.

[wildmano]

Dude, you are KILLING it with the commentary. In other words, really good job, seriously.

[masher]

Kuss should give Landa a hug for being such loyal domestic.

[jweitzenheimer]

Kuss did a good job minimizing the damage today. If he has a good day tomorrow it could be enough. He has to mark his teammates very carefully. Every man for himself at this point

[Anubrogue]

Being 4 minutes ahead of everyone else, I think it would be ridiculous if Jumbo don't try to give Kuss the Overall Win. He has done so much for them and has put all his personal ambitions aside, despite being capable of leading a team and being a Top 10 Grand Tour finisher in his own right.

[bretthogan]

These guys have more respect for GC rivals than their own loyal teamates.

[_fpc]

Was waiting for this video after seeing the end of the stage

[stuartmisfeldt]

Sepp is such a great team player and so optimistic. He has to be the best politician. Sepp has been the primary climbing domestic for both of them for five grand tours in a row. Not to mention all the other stage races he has helped win. It’s a pity that these teammates don’t understand that they didn’t do it by themselves. It’s even worse that management is blowing apart the team they fought so hard to build. Maybe because Jumbo Visma is not sponsoring in the future, the team won’t be able to pay Sepp, Jonas and Primos, so they are willing to burn a promising American, to keep one star.
The worst part was, yesterday was Sepp’s birthday!
Happy Birthday Sepp Kuss!

[darrylperry]

Sepp Kuss has been there for both of them—JV and PR—working and sacrificing for years during their tour wins. Yet, they attack him whenever the opportunity arises, instead of helping him to control things. And Jumbo’s boss is full of it when he said they weren’t attacking Sepp. I saw it with my own eyes, are you kidding me? I hope they come to their ethical senses and support Sepp for the win otherwise in my book, it’s total betrayal. Ironically, we can thank Landa, an adversary, for keeping Sepp in the red jersey—not his teammates.

[markantonywaring]

Wouldn’t it be nice for Kuss to win and TJV to have three different grand tour winners - that’s TEAM WORK!

[sevgevorkyan]

After all he's done for them, it's cruel to try and take it away from him on these final stages.

[bbuuttercupp]

Honestly shocking to see. Even hours later, I'm still speechless. People who talk about 'no one deserves gifts' don't understand cycling it seems. Its about teamwork and you constantly gift each other help, lead-outs, pacing, protection from the wind, etc, etc. Kuss has done it for every grand tour they've won. Not only did they not return the favor, they attacked him outright. Shocking. One can only hope Kuss somehow holds on and wins, despite having no teammates, a field of riders still trying to get a win and his own teammates even fighting against him. If he pulls it off, at least there will be absolutely no talks of 'gifts' after this.

[redscouse]

My biggest cheer of the race so far was seeing Kuss stick to Landa and pull back some seconds. Would be one of those iconic sporting moments if Kuss goes on and wins in Madrid, But I think the ego's of Roglic and Vingegaard will prevent it.

[rossmurray]

Before this stage, the only potential threats left to Jumbo finishing 1, 2, 3 on GC were Ayuso and Mas. Both had fallen a long way behind by the time the three Jumbo riders were left as the leading group of three going up the last climb. There was no reason to ride away from Kuss other than the rivalry between Jonas and Primoz was too intense to obey team orders. Some people are questioning whether Kuss will go elsewhere because of this. I am wondering which of Jonas and Primoz will leave.

[lorca]

The thing that rubs me wrong is that Kuss works for these two to win important stages of grand tours. Now he’s got the leader’s jersey and neither one will give him the courtesy of a pull. Imagine if Kuss had dropped either one to go grab a stage win the the Giro or the Tour.

[LucasHynar]

I can just feel the relationship on the Jumbo Visma team breaking apart. Sometimes the bigger goal of team cohesion is greater than the goal of wining a grand tour. It is ironic that while dominating this tour with 1, 2 and 3 on the GC they are looking like the team that is losing the most.

[gregor]

Sat on the bus the other day, little kid was jealously staring 10 minutes straight on my LRCP cap 😂❤️

[TheRealBlueSwan]

I just want to point out a few things:

1) Jonas looked VERY comfortable in Roglic' wheel and I have little doubt that he could have dropped Roglic and taken the red jersey if he had wanted to. This tells me that he is infact not just "going for it".

2) It is one thing to gift stage wins to teammates as we've seen plenty of times in the past (including by Jonas and Primoz) and quite another for the strongest rider in the peloton to gift a grand tour to a teammate. After his sickness has evaporated, Jonas IS the strongest rider in the peloton, probably even by far. Him gifting the Vuelta to Sepp would probably be the biggest gift given to a teammate in cycling history.

3) Sepp has been the best super domestique in the world over the last few years, no doubt about that, but it is ridiculous to talk about how Sepp has sacrificed for Jonas and Primoz. To ride for them is literally his JOB and he gets paid handsomely for it and has become one of the most popular riders in the world because of it. Probably a better deal than being a tier 2 captain on a smaller team. Regardless, none of the "sacrifices" that Sepp has made even begins to compare to sacrificing a grand tour win. Jonas can complete a historic tour-vuelta double. Primoz can win a historic fourth Vuelta. You don't even get to that place unless you are single-mindedly competitive. It is not a small thing to ask these riders to give it up when it is within their grasp or in Jonas' case, 100% there for the taking if he wants it.

4) Everybody has said that there is an agreement on the team that if one of the three gets dropped, the other two doesn't wait around for them. Of course it can definitely be argued that the Angliru was different because they were just those three Jumbo riders ahead of everybody else, but still.

5) Yes, I also want Sepp to win and want the fairytale ending. I think a key reason why so much fuss is being out of this is exactly because everybody loves Sepp. But I must say I object to the villanization of Jonas and Primoz.