Durango’s Sepp Kuss is known as a climber in the cycling world, and that’s what he did in the general classification standings in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday with his first top-10 finish of the race.
Kuss finished eighth in Stage 9, a 184-kilometer hilly trek from Cervia to Corno alle Scale with an altitude gain of 2,400 meters (7874 feet). He finished in four hours, 21 minutes and seven seconds.
It’s the Durango native’s only third top-10 finish in a Giro stage in his career, with his other two coming in 2023. This is only Kuss’ third Giro start, and he is still looking for his first stage win at the Giro, with stage wins at the other two Grand Tours, the Tour de France and La Vuelta a España.
Although Kuss’ top-10 finish in Stage 9 pushed him up to 18th in the general classification, his job in the Giro is to support his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate and team leader Jonas Vingegaard as he looks to win the Giro. Kuss and Visma-Lease a Bike’s efforts on Sunday were successful as Vingegaard won the stage in 4:20:21, with Visma teammate Davide Piganzoli in third, 34 seconds behind Vingegaard.
The Visma squad stayed in the peloton as a group broke away at the front from the beginning. Kuss helped lead Vingegaard up the start of the 11-kilometer climb to the finish at the top of the Corno alle Scale. Vingegaard and Felix Gall separated from the rest. Vingegaard launched his attack with about a kilometer left to the finish, and Gall had nothing left in the tank to stay with him.
“It feels good to end the week with a win,” Vingegaard said in a Visma press release. “I’m happy for Davide that he was able to show himself with his third place. He is a very talented rider. We are in a good position after nine stages and are looking forward to the rest of this Giro, starting with the time trial on Tuesday.”
As a climber, Kuss’ skills didn’t line up with Tuesday’s 42 km time trial from Viareggio to Massa. He finished in 51st, dropping him to 20th in the GC. Vingegaard finished in 12th and is in second in the GC, only 27 seconds behind Afonso Eulálio in first.
On Wednesday, Stage 11 of the Giro is a hilly, 195 km ride from Porcari to Chiavari. Stage 12 on Thursday will be a relatively easy, flat, 175 km stage from Imperia to Novi Ligure.