Sepp Kuss has been ruled out of the Visma-Lease a bike Tour de France squad, having failed to recover sufficiently from a bout of Covid, the team announced today.
It means the team's defending Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard will be without his key lieutenant in the all-important big mountain stages.
It's a further unwelcome blow for Vingegaard, who has not raced since breaking several ribs and a collarbone, and puncturing a lung, in a devastating crash in April's Itzulia Basque Country stage race.
Durango, Colorado rider Kuss, who has Grand Tour pedigree himself having won last year's Vuelta a España, left the Critérium du Dauphiné after stage seven earlier this month, complaining of mild Covid symptoms.
He has improved since then, says Visma-Lease a Bike, but not fully.
"This is of course very hard for Sepp in the first place," said sports director Merijn Zeeman on the team's website. "His contribution is always very important in the team, but then of course he has to be completely fit.
"Unfortunately, we had to conclude together today that this is insufficiently the case, after covid. He now needs to recover properly and will therefore not start."
Kuss will be replaced in the team's Tour de France squad by 28-year-old Dutch rider Bart Lemmen, who only graduated from the Continental ranks at the start of 2023 with Human Powered Health, joining Visma-Lease a Bike this year on a two-year contract.
Proficient in the climbs, Lemmen was second in the Tour de Romandie mountains classification in April and was second overall at the Tour of Norway in May, taking a stage win with him.
"Despite only being a professional for a year-and-a-half, Bart is already proving to be a very reliable and strong rider," Zeeman said. "He learns quickly and proved it this year with several good classifications.
"He is a good climber, and he willingly sacrifices himself for his leader Jonas Vingegaard. I have a lot of confidence in Bart."
Kuss or no, Vingegaard won't exactly be bereft of support in any situation at the Tour. Joining him and Lemmen on the team will be an enviable roster of talent, including Matteo Jorgenson for the mountains and super-strong all-rounders Wout van Aert and Tiesj Benoot.
