Former Vuelta a España winner Sepp Kuss has said that he feels it was characteristic of his now ex-teammate Simon Yates at Visma-Lease a Bike to make an abrupt and utterly unexpected decision to retire.
Early this January and shortly before the team media day, the 2025 Giro d'Italia winner announced that he was ending his career, effective immediately.
The bombshell news caught almost all the Visma team by surprise and has forced the management to rework their plans for 2026 to fill the considerable gap left by a top climber and GC contender like Yates as best they could.
In an extensive interview with Spanish newspaper AS, Kuss – also one of the squad's key mountain riders – argued that while Yates sudden exit was unexpected, it was also entirely within the 33-year-old's character.
"It caught us by surprise. It's a pity for us to lose him for our plans for the Tour, but we have to go on without him," Kuss said.
Asked if it was not a strange decision to take, Kuss answered with a laugh, "If you know him, it's not so strange. Simon is a great guy, but he has his own way of doing things. He'll have thought about quitting, and that's all there is to it."
Kuss himself is aiming to complete his Grand Tour 'set' of stage wins with a victory in the Giro d'Italia, although the prime goal is to win it outright with Vingegaard. The Tour de France and the Vuelta a España are also possibly on the agenda.
The rider from Durango, Colorado, said that he was convinced that Vingegaard was hugely motivated for the Giro, and that his decision to try to win it meant he was not staking everything on the Tour. Furthermore, switching around the approach to the Tour would be a new challenge and would "take Jonas out of his comfort zone."
"He seems keener to me, because other years he's had the same calendar for before the Tour, and if things didn't work out there, it seemed like he'd lost the entire year.
"Going to the Giro will take away a lot of that pressure, and will give him a fresh attitude when it comes to the Tour too. It's the most important race, but I think it's good he has different challenges."
Kuss said it wasn't easy for the team to decide to send Vingegaard to the Giro, given the importance of the Tour and that racing in the Giro could have certain risks. But, he concluded, "I think he's very motivated."
Tadej Pogačar's performances 'scary but motivating'
While Kuss had nothing but praise for teammate Wout van Aert and how he managed to overcome his numerous setbacks – "he always comes back stronger, he's an example to follow for all the riders – he was also keen to both highlight the strength of arch-rivals UAE Team Emirates-XRG and point out that each knock-out performance by Pogačar was daunting and inspiring in equal parts.
"It doesn't matter if the race is in the middle of nowhere, they'll always bring a star," he said. Regarding Pogačar, "you feel a mix of sensations. They're the kind of riders who are always looking for the next step to improve. That can be scary, but it can be motivating."
Repeating his 2023 overall victory in the Vuelta is "possible," Kuss said, before adding that "each year it's getting hard, because the rivals and the teams are improving. It depends on circumstances; we'll have to believe in that and look for our chance."
Under contract until the end of 2027, Kuss was asked about his own options of leaving his lifelong professional squad and leading one elsewhere, but he explained that he operated best when expectations – and pressure – were not so high.
"I've had that impression from time to time," the 31-year-old said regarding whether other teams could be interested in signing him, "but given what I'm like as a rider and person, I know I'm more capable of winning a Grand Tour without being a leader.
"In fact, I knew I could win a Grand Tour without being in the spotlight, and that's what happened in Spain."
