{"id":47859,"date":"2021-03-19T16:06:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangos-sepp-kuss-signs-extension-with-team-jumbo-visma\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T22:06:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:06:50","slug":"durangos-sepp-kuss-signs-extension-with-team-jumbo-visma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangos-sepp-kuss-signs-extension-with-team-jumbo-visma\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango\u2019s Sepp Kuss signs extension with Team Jumbo-Visma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sepp
Sepp Kuss rides toward the finish line to take a fourth place in Stage 17 of the 2020 Tour de France cycling race in Meribel Col de la Loze, France.<\/span>Christophe Petit-Tesson\/Pool file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

There will be no drama in what would have been the final year of Sepp Kuss\u2019 cycling contract with Team Jumbo-Visma.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old from Durango announced Friday he had signed a three-year extension with the Netherlands-based team to remain in yellow and black through the end of the 2024 season. After a standout performance at last year\u2019s Tour de France in his debut at the sport\u2019s biggest event, Kuss attracted suitors from across the International Cycling Union World Tour landscape. But the chance to stay with the team that first took a chance on him early in his road cycling career while still earning a considerable pay raise was all Kuss had hoped to gain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were offers elsewhere, and of course we considered it, but for me, my main goal was to stay with Jumbo-Visma. It\u2019s the best environment for me,\u201d Kuss said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald.<\/em> \u201cI get along really with the riders, the directors, the staff, and it was a logical decision to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to stay. It\u2019s a team I really feel comfortable in, so there\u2019s no reason for me to change that, especially at the rate I am learning things and developing. I could see that continuing and getting better the longer I stay with the team. We have that level of trust with each other and understanding, which I think is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the third contract Kuss has signed with Jumbo-Visma. He first signed away from continental team Rally Cycling after the 2017 season when he was still raltively new to road cycling after years as a mountain biker. Kuss signed a two-year extension with the team at the conclusion of the 2019 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a three-year extension now is really nice,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cYou have a bit of security and know you\u2019re part of the longer-term plans for the team. As the years go on, I can have more opportunities, and I think that will be really motivating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sepp
Sepp Kuss competes during Stage 20 of the 2020 Tour de France cycling race, an individual time trial over 22.5 miles from Lure to La Planche des Belles Filles, France.<\/span>Thibault Camus\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With a stage win at the 2019 Spanish Vuelta<\/a> and an impressive debut at the 2020 Tour de France<\/a>, Kuss set into the 2021 season with the chance for more leadership opportunities, including at this year\u2019s Vuelta. The team has helped him gradually ease into leadership roles after years as a support rider, primarily for Primo\u017e Roglic. Kuss has shined in that role as one of the best climbers in the world, and he has enjoyed not having the pressure of being thrust into leadership duties early in his career.<\/p>\n

Team Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman cited Kuss\u2019 2018 win at the Tour of Utah<\/a> as well as his stage victories at the Vuelta and at last year\u2019s Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9<\/a> as Kuss\u2019 great accomplishments during his first two contracts with the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cSepp is one of the best climbers in the peloton,\u201d Zeemansaid in a team news release<\/a>. \u201cHe has grown into a rider who takes his own chances, but he is also super important in supporting the leaders. He is increasingly becoming a leader himself, and we will guide him in discovering his limits in the upcoming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuss\u2019 extension helps ensure Jumbo-Visma further success after it was crowned the best team in 2020<\/a>. Roglic is under contract through 2023, and Belgian star Wout van Aert is also signed through 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really fun being on a team with two of the best riders in the world,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cI learn a lot from them, and we get along really well. I think those two bring the whole team up another level, and it\u2019s nice to be part of that environment. When you show up to different races and everybody is looking toward you as the team to beat, there is a level of responsibility but it also empowers you in a way. Being part of a really strong group that has riders who can win on any day if that\u2019s what you need to do, it\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuss will again ride at this year\u2019s Tour de France and will get co-leadership duties at the Vuelta. He also is expected to be picked by USA Cycling for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

But next for Kuss is the Volta a Catalunya from March 22-28. He is will have co-leadership duties on the team that also will include Steven Kruijswijk and George Bennett.<\/p>\n

\u201cStevie and George were in good shape at Paris-Nice, and I think it\u2019s a pretty open race,\u201d Kuss said. \u201cIt will be a bit easier to see how it plays out between the three of us with no pressure of having one big leader. It opens with a time trial and then goes into tough mountain stages, so we will see where we\u2019re at pretty early on.\u201d<\/p>\n

jlivingston@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

climber locked up through 2024 season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[657,29,2180,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-47859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cycling","tag-newsletter","tag-road-cycling","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47859","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=47859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47859"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=47859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}