Vuelta 2023: Jumbo-Visma says yes to Sepp Kuss – Jonas Vingegaard puts himself at the service of the Commander-in-Chief

Sepp Kuss truly experiences the exotic Vuelta a España. The 179 kilometers between Pola de Alande and the end of the mountain at La Cruz de Linares could not have been more in contrast to the events of the previous day.

A day later, all seems well again at Jumbo-Visma.

“Right now, Jonas Vingegaard is driving as exemplary as his teammate,” he enthuses. Eurosport expert Jens Voigt Thursday afternoon 2 km before reaching La Cruz de Linares. After all, the Dane was just eight seconds behind Kos in the overall standings, and an attack could have seen the American eliminated – but that was out of the question on the 18th stage.

“If the two (Vingegaard and Roglic; male. red.“If we give up the overall victory to Sepp Kos, that is also a great thing from a human perspective,” Voigt continued. “They say to themselves: ‘We give this to Sepp because he was simply strong and served us for many years…’. ‘But of course we haven’t arrived in Madrid yet.’

After the jumbo stars finally reached the finish line, Kuss, who managed to extend his lead in the overall standings to 17 seconds, and Vingegaard answered questions – and they were on the same page as Voigt.

“Today was about protecting Sepp,” Vengegard explained exclusively to Sepp. Eurosport. “Of course there is still a very difficult stage in the program on Saturday, so we have to be very careful. We will have to fight all the way to Madrid.”

When asked how much Kos appreciated his and Giro winner Roglic’s efforts, Vengegaard looked thoughtful: “Of course it’s great to be able to give it back to him, to do something for him. He has a lot for Primoz and he made me, today I wanted to return the favor.”

Cos appreciated the support of his comrades and then praised the successful teamwork in La Cruz de Linares.

“First of all, I would say the guys did a great job, I was pulled along all day,” Kos said. “Jonas set a really strong pace,” and let it be known: “I was a little afraid of that too,” because it was so easy. . Speed ​​is not necessarily easy for others. But he drove the car really well for me.”

Koss then revealed that Jumbo-Visma had recently agreed on two strategies. “We as a team and the three of us have agreed on two strategies: one until the Anglero stage and the other after that.” Indicating that the Dutch racing team was also keen to ensure clear conditions at the top of the general standings after the drama of the previous day.

But Kos doesn’t want to devote too much thought to his upcoming comprehensive victory. After all, the 29-year-old still has four stages to go before the biggest coup of his career.

“It’s getting closer and closer. There’s a little easier stage tomorrow, but we have to stay focused,” he kept a low profile. “The twentieth stage will be long and difficult again. We have come out of the mountains, but there are still difficult parts.”