Kuss, Vingegaard, Roglič: three leaders and many historic conquests

Team Jumbo-Visma asserted their dominance over the Grand Tours this season by taking the top three places in La Vuelta after winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.

On the roads of La Vuelta Ciclista a España, Jumbo-Visma completed a conquest unprecedented in the long history of cycling: to win the third Grand Tour of the season after the Giro d'Italia in May and the Tour de France in July. And the Dutch team did it in style, with three riders on the podium: the USA’s Sepp Kuss claimed his greatest triumph ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (winner of the Tour) and Primož Roglič (Giro).

In this new chapter of a story that has been in the writing since 1984 with various sponsors, the Dutch team has inducted an unexpected hero. A model team-mate in Jumbo-Visma’s previous successes, Sepp Kuss has been crowned King in Spain. It was a historic triumph for the American climber, who was taking part in his third Grand Tour of the season, giving even more volume and impact to the performance put in by the Jumbo-Visma team. To take part in three Grand Tours in the same year is unusual in itself. And to win one of the three is a feat previously achieved only by the Italian Gastone Nencini, in the 1957 Giro d'Italia.

“I think I’ll look back on this experience with a lot of fun memories. It’s still sinking in, I think it’s gonna take quite some time. Now, a big celebration. Family, friends are here, and that’s gonna be really special, to be with the riders and the staff, tell the stories of the last three weeks,” Kuss said after his triumph in Madrid.

Kuss rises

With an exceptionally strong field, all the elements were in place for a great spectacle at the start from Barcelona on August 26. On one side, defending winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was putting his crown on the line. On the other: the Jumbo-Visma XXL collective seemed to revolve around Roglič and Vingegaard. It was a match-up on which the 2nd and 3rd placed GC riders in the 2022 edition, Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), were hoping to intervene throughout the 3156.5km and 18 first and special category ascents of this 78th Vuelta Ciclista a España… not forgetting Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Belgian prodigy, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe).

But nobody could stand in the way of the yellow and black team. Not even Evenepoel, who took the overall lead on the third day of the race after his victory at the summit of Arinsal in Andorra.

Three days later, Sepp Kuss broke away towards Javalambre. The winner of the stage ahead of Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) – who, at the age of 20, became the youngest leader in the history of the Grand Tours – Kuss moved up to 2nd place overall, just 8 seconds behind the Frenchman but with a margin of almost 3 minutes on his team leaders and their main rivals. It was the first moment of change, until Kuss' irresistible and definitive ascent towards La Roja on the terrible slopes of Xorret de Cati (stage 8).

According to plan

Roglič won the stage, Kuss took the red jersey: the Jumbo-Visma collective set off to sweep away everything in their path and enter another dimension, just as they had envisioned. "We had the plan in mind as early as November," Team Manager Richard Plugge told Eurosport. "We took it step by step. The Giro first, then the Tour. With Sepp in a good position, we knew we had three leaders."

Their rivals couldn’t match this abundance of talent. While Evenepoel lost his ambitions for the overall classification in the French Pyrenees, Vingegaard conquered the Col du Tourmalet (stage 13) ahead of his two team-mates. The Dane went on to win a second stage in Bejas, while Roglič shone on the slopes of the Alto de l'Angliru, where Jumbo-Visma scored another 1-2-3.

The following day, Vingegaard and Roglič raced as team-mates for Kuss on the slopes leading up to La Cruz de Linares (stage 18), with the American heading for overall victory. Evenepoel had attacked from far away to claim a third stage victory, before a final showdown in the streets of Madrid, where Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) eventually claimed his third La Vuelta 23 stage win and became the first Australian to triumph in the points classification of the Spanish Grand Tour. He was one of the heroes of this historic edition. But the greatest conquests were led by the irresistible Jumbo-Visma.