{"id":45631,"date":"2021-07-23T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/its-pretty-fleeting-after-tour-de-france-life-settles-down-for-sepp-kuss\/"},"modified":"2021-07-23T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T16:01:00","slug":"its-pretty-fleeting-after-tour-de-france-life-settles-down-for-sepp-kuss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/its-pretty-fleeting-after-tour-de-france-life-settles-down-for-sepp-kuss\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It’s pretty fleeting\u2019: After Tour de France, life settles down for Sepp Kuss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stage
Stage winner Sepp Kuss of Durango celebrates on the podium after he won the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday in Andorra-la-Vella, Andorra. (AP Photo\/Christophe Ena)<\/span>Christophe Ena<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The final stage of the Tour de France is unlike most bike races. The day starts with the race leader and other significant riders riding easy, posing for photographs with their teammates as they roll along, as if it was a parade rather than a race.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Durango-born professional cyclist Sepp Kuss was doing Sunday afternoon, hours away from completing his second-career Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Although the overall competition winner is already sorted out by the final stage, there\u2019s still a sprint finish up the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es, so as the peloton rolls into Paris, the pace picks up as riders search for one last chance at victory. After 21 days and more than 2,000 miles of racing, riders must exert themselves one last time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just kind of counting down the laps until it\u2019s over,\u201d Kuss said in an interview this week with The Durango Herald<\/em>. \u201cThen you know you can celebrate and be happy with your teammates and what you all went through together, whether you won or lost or anything. I think it\u2019s special for everybody to finish there in Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuss\u2019 three weeks in France were full of wins and losses. The obvious highlight for the 26-year-old was winning Stage 15, which finished in his adopted home country of Andorra. Plus, his teammate Wout van Aert won three stages, including the final one in Paris. But the race also saw multiple of Kuss\u2019 Jumbo-Visma teammates drop out because of injuries.<\/p>\n

At the start of the race, Kuss\u2019 primary objective in the race was to provide support for teammate Primoz Roglic, last year\u2019s runner-up and a prime race favorite for this year\u2019s edition. However, Roglic was forced to withdraw from the Tour with severe bruising and road rash after a series of crashes.<\/p>\n

There were still plenty of opportunities for his team to prosper, though. Stage 15 presented a course that could suit Kuss\u2019 abilities; a steep climb was followed by a blistering descent to the finish line in Andorra, where Kuss and many of his teammates live.<\/p>\n

The Durangoan launched his attack on the final climb, and held a 20-second advantage as he crested the summit. He maintained his lead over Alejandro Valverde of Spain to become the first American to win a stage at the French race since 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really a special day and it\u2019s cool to know that you won a stage in the Tour de France,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cBut I think as cyclists you\u2019re already looking to the next thing, the next goal, and you always have a pretty short memory. Already that day feels so long ago. You\u2019re already thinking about the next race or what you\u2019re going to do on the next day almost, so yeah it\u2019s, I guess it\u2019s pretty fleeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Runner-up
Runner-up Alejandro Valverde of Spain congratulates Stage 15 winner Sepp Kuss of Durango on July 11 in Andorra. (Thomas Samson\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/span>Thomas Samson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After the day\u2019s podium ceremony and interviews were complete, Kuss turned his attention to being a helper again for teammates like Jonas Vingegaard, who finished second overall. Even though Kuss\u2019 day in the spotlight was fleeting, his friends and family in Durango remain ecstatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must have felt so cool,\u201d said Chad Cheeney, co-founder of the Durango Devo program who coached Kuss when he was a young mountain biker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think someone told me that (NBC commentator) Bob Roll mentioned Devo and he must be good at downhilling if he\u2019s from Durango Devo or something,\u201d Cheeney said. \u201cI just knew it must have been a pretty rad descent to victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since rising through the ranks of domestic and international professional cycling, Kuss has established a home base in Andorra, a tiny country situated between France and Spain.<\/p>\n

\"Durango's
Durango's Sepp Kuss is looking at his second career start at the Tour de France. Once more, his goal is to get through the opening week without injury to be ready for the bigger climbs in the final two weeks of the world's most infamous road cycling event. (Courtesy of Team Jumbo-Visma)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThat stage meant a lot to him with adopting Andorra as his new home,\u201d said Sabina Kuss, Sepp\u2019s mother. \u201cHe\u2019s building a house there, and his girlfriend and her family were there, so he said that truly motivated him to know that he was going on his adopted country roads and seeing his Spanish family up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic along with a busy professional life has kept Kuss away from Durango in recent years, but his parents are able to keep up with him by watching the races that are broadcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always excited by whatever bike race he\u2019s in,\u201d said Sepp\u2019s father, Dolph Kuss. \u201cWe watch them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabina Kuss adds that the Tour finishing brings a bittersweet feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to see him every morning for three weeks,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we don\u2019t get to wake up in the morning and see Sepp. But I\u2019m just thrilled that he ended his tour without any injuries or road rash or anything. He\u2019s in great shape to start his Vuelta in about a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Tour, many cyclists immediately boarded a plane to Tokyo for the cycling events in the Olympic Games. Kuss had made the prior decision to not compete in the Games, rather focusing on the Tour and La Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain).<\/p>\n

\u201cI assumed they (USA Cycling) would want me to go just considering the course and how much climbing there was,\u201d Kuss said about the Tokyo Games. \u201cAlready in the winter, knowing what my schedule was going to be, I didn\u2019t have so much interest in going. And, yeah, I mean, even at this point I don\u2019t regret not going so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

With riders leaving for Tokyo and others having already dropped out of the race, the post-race revelry in Paris was muted compared to other years, but Kuss still had opportunity to hit the town.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our dinner we just had three riders, but it was a really nice evening,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of the riders\u2019 and staff\u2019s families had come to Paris, and we all met at the Dutch Embassy there so it was a nice setting and, you know, speeches and everything and good celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A cycling fan runs alongside Sepp Kuss as he climbs Col du Portet pass during Stage 17 of the Tour de France on July 14. (AP Photo\/Daniel Cole)<\/span>Daniel Cole<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Reactions from the Durango community poured out over the course of the three-week race, especially after Kuss\u2019 win on Stage 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig ups to Sepp Kuss,\u201d Todd Wells, a former mountain bike Olympian, wrote on social media. \u201cHuge ride today winning in his European home base of Andorra.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Sepp Kuss for doing Durango and America proud by winning today\u2019s Tour de France stage,\u201d wrote friend and professional mountain biker Payson McElveen. \u201cThe tears of joy this morning wiped away my own (racing) frustrations and reinvigorated my excitement to get back to working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of fans in Durango,\u201d Dolph Kuss said. \u201cEveryone I talk to, they\u2019re always excited about his riding and they enjoy watching bike races. In fact, a lot of people have become more interested in watching bike races since Sepp has been participating the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say, \u2018Tell Sepp we\u2019re cheering for him,\u2019 or \u2018Tell Sepp great job,\u2019\u201d added Sabina. \u201cI always convey that to Sepp, and you can just feel him smile and he always says, \u2018Well, I really appreciate that.\u2019 So, he\u2019s really aware of it. He\u2019s got a tight community in Durango that supports him.\u201d<\/p>\n

One stronghold of support is the Durango Devo program, where Kuss got his start as a competitive mountain biker. Devo athletes learned about Kuss\u2019 win at the Mountain Bike National Championships in Winter Park, where multiple Durangoans rode to wins and podium performances.<\/p>\n

Kuss serves as a role model and real-world example for the Devo athletes, who range in age from 2 to 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a banner guy and he has a great outlook on life,\u201d Cheeney said. \u201cJust being around people, he can do it. Those things go a long way in a role model. He hasn\u2019t been here much in the last few years, but when he does come home he\u2019s pretty in-tune with hanging out and talking to the kids, so that\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Kuss says that aspiring racers should follow their passions and have fun doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can learn anything from me it\u2019s just to enjoy riding your bike and doing it because you love it. That\u2019s what I try and show whenever I\u2019m racing or the training that I put into the results. It\u2019s always about love and enjoyment, and I think that\u2019s what the main message they should take from what I\u2019m doing, because in the end, that\u2019s what it takes to be at this level is to just really have a passion for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sepp
Sepp Kuss of the U.S. celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win Stage 15 of the Tour de France in Andorra on July 11. (AP Photo\/Christophe Ena)<\/span>Christophe Ena<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durango native had strong showing in Tour de France<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[657,28,2180],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cycling","tag-headlines","tag-road-cycling"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45631"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}