As he demonstrated again this past month in the 2023 Tour de France, Sepp Kuss is one of the best climbers in the world and a kingmaker of a domestique who's helped his Jumbo-Visma teammates Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard take wins in all three Grand Tours. Not without his own success, Kuss has won a stage in the Tour de France and La Vuelta España, and finished overall at this year's UAE Tour.
After sitting in the top 10 in the overall classification for most of this year's Tour, a serious crash left him bloody and bandaged on Stage 20, and pushed him out of the top 10.
Nicknamed simply "The Durango Kid," the 28-year-old may not be a kid anymore but he's certainly an invaluable asset for his team. Here's some facts about super domestique.
1. While growing up Kuss was a member of the Durango Devo mountain bike program but was more focused on nordic ski racing in the winter.
2. As a member of Durango Devo, Kuss grew up competing with the likes of Howard Grotts who went on to be a two-time Olympian and multi-time national champion.
3. His father Dolph was a coach for the U.S Ski Team at two different Olympic Games and is a member of the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame.
4. His parents, Dolph and Sabine, instilled a love for the outdoors in Kuss from a young age, introducing him to trail running, biking, whitewater kayaking and, even, burro backpacking trips in the San Juan Mountains.
5. Kuss is a three-time collegiate mountain bike national champion, winning three titles for the University of Colorado Boulder in both XC and Short Track.
6. Kuss raced the mountain bike world championship in 2014 in Lillehammer, Norway before he even started road racing.
7. He was first introduced to road racing at college in Boulder and the Durango native took to it immediately.
8. He graduated with a degree in advertising in 2017.
9. In his second season racing road, Kuss won a stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic and made it onto the Rally Pro cycling roster for the rest of that season.
10. While racing professionally for the last six years, he has only ever ridden for the Jumbo-Visma squad in the WorldTour.
11. Finishing eighth in La Vuelta in 2021 was the highest placing an American had achieved since Andrew Talansky five years prior.
12. Now a full-time European resident, Kuss lives at high altitude in Andorra with his wife Noemi and their adorable mini Doodle named Bimba.
13. His stage win in the 2021 Tour broke a 10-ten year drought for American stage wins. Kuss was the first American to win a Tour stage since Tyler Ferrar won stage three in 2011.
