Vuelta a España chief Sepp Kuss has heaped reward on former race contender Remco Evenepoel for a way the Belgian racer regained sufficient momentum to go on a colossal long-distance mountain assault on Saturday and clinch a spectacular solo stage 14 win.
Kuss himself in fine condition all through the second key Pyrenean stage, with solely a quick wobble on the ultra-difficult Larrau when Juan Ayuso (UAE Staff Emirates) launched a number of assaults within the one second the place the strain briefly spiked.
“Levels the place the second final climb are the toughest are generally essentially the most difficult, and as we speak was a superb day for ambushes,” Kuss advised reporters afterwards.
“The Larrau is the form of climb that’s powerful sufficient to make some massive assaults if someone has an issue. However we had been in a position to observe the opposite guys with none actual issues.”
After Ayuso’s mini-rebellion had been quelled by the Jumbo-Visma racers, the rest of the stage handed off uneventfully for Kuss, with no additional assaults materialising all the way in which to the summit end of the Puerto de Belagua.
However the American mentioned that he was ready to attract on his appreciable expertise working for different high riders to assist him discover ways to greatest defend the jersey on phases like Saturday’s trek by way of the French Pyrenees and again into Spain.
“I’ve been fortunate to be in good or profitable groups that take accountability, realizing these important moments when it’s a must to be on high of it, or others the place it can save you vitality. Being round the most effective riders on the earth and seeing how they method this is essential for me.”
On the similar time, Kuss was in a position to witness one other essential lesson on Saturday – how a champion like Evenepoel was in a position to flip the tables on a brutal defeat to assert a significant stage victory, all within the house of 24 hours. The truth that he was underneath a microscopic degree of fixed media scrutiny in Belgium solely made that turnaround much more exceptional, he mentioned, given the strain that form of consideration introduced with it.
“I wasn’t stunned, I knew he would wish to bounce again, however what he did is de facto spectacular,” Kuss mentioned. “I’m very completely satisfied for him as a result of I think about in it’s not having these sorts of setbacks with how the media is in Belgium. It’s a difficult state of affairs, so I feel he will be proud of that stage victory.”
The Vuelta is now leaving the Pyrenees behind, and Kuss stays comfortably in management. However yet another difficult stage, by way of the hills of Navarre in northwest Spain, stays earlier than the second relaxation day on Monday.
“It’s a traditional Vuelta semi-breakaway stage,” Kuss mentioned. “We don’t know if [Kaden] Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck and double stage winner of bunch sprints – Ed.] can survive the climbs. However there shall be plenty of attacking for the break to type, after which we’ll see the way it takes care of that.”