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Kuss takes first WorldTour win on stage 15 of the Vuelta: Daily News Digest

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Sepp Kuss soloed to victory on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España. Matteo Trentin took out stage 2 of the Tour of Britain. Christine Majerus won the Boels Ladies Tour. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Sepp Kuss takes breakaway victory at the Vuelta a España

Jumbo-Visma had plenty to celebrate on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España with American Sep Kuss taking the stage win and Primoz Roglic strengthening his position at the top of the GC.

Kuss was part of a 17-rider breakaway that formed on a 154km stage with four sizeable climbs. Despite having overall leader Roglic in the peloton behind, Kuss was given the freedom to ride for the stage win and he did just that. The 24-year-old attacked from the break, reeling in a few earlier attackers, before soloing to his first victory at WorldTour level. He even had enough time to high-five a bunch of spectators in the final metres.

“It was crazy, all those high-fives,” Kuss said. “The road was a bit of a goat track in parts on that last climb. It hasn’t sunk in [yet] and I’m lost for words but this is what makes bike racing so special.”

In the peloton behind, second-placed Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was on the move, distancing all of his GC rivals bar Roglic. Roglic beat Valverde at the line, but the pair had succeeded in putting time between themselves and all other GC contenders.

“Roglic and I had a bit of an understanding, and we worked together,” said Valverde.. “Taking 40 seconds [on Miguel Angel Lopez and Tadej Pogacar] is important and those are a good 40 seconds.”

Roglic leads Valverde by 2:35, with Pogacar now at 3:42 and Lopez at 3:59. Six stages remain in in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana. Monday’s stage 16 is the final stage before the second rest day and will be Roglic’s sixth day in red.

Stage 15 results

1. Sepp Kuss (USA) 4hr 19min 04sec
2. Ruben Guerreiro (POR) +0:39
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS) 0:40
4. Oscar Rodriguez (ESP) 0:53
5. Mark Padun (UKR) 1:49
6. Ben O’Connor (AUS) 2:05
7. Lawson Craddock (USA) 2:11
8. Primoz Roglic (SLO) 2:14
9. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2:14
10. Sander Armee (BEL) 2:48

GC

1. Primoz Roglic (SLO) 58hrs 10min 32sec
2. Alejandro Valverde(ESP) +2:35
3. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) 3:42
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL) 3:59
5. Nairo Quintana (COL) 5:09
6. Rafal Majka (POL) 7:14
7. Nicolas Edet (FRA) 9:08
8. Wilco Kelderman (NED) 9:15
9. Carl Fredrik Hagen (NOR) 9:44
10. Hermann Pernsteiner (AUT) 11:39

Beauty of Cycling

Now this is a finish line photo.

It comes from Bruno Bade and was shot at the Brussels Cycling Classic on Saturday where Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) took home the chocolates. From left to right: Ewan (1), Ackermann (2), Jasper Stuyven (5), Davide Ballerini (4), Arnaud Demare (6) and Jasper Philipsen (3).

Race Radio

Matteo Trentin wins stage 2 of the Tour of Britain

Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) has nabbed his fifth win for the year, sprinting to victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain.

After some of the sprinters were distanced on a late climb — including stage 1 winner Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) — Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) attacked 3km from the line but was overhauled inside the final 100m. Trentin hit the line first ahead of Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and Tour de France stage winner Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma).

With six stages remaining in the 2.HC race, Trentin now leads the Tour of Britain by 11 seconds over stage 1 runner-up, Davide Cimolai (Israel Cycling Academy).

Christine Majerus wins the Boels Ladies Tour

Luxembourg champion Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans) has taken out the six-stage Boels Ladies Tour in The Netherlands after a string of consistent placings.

The 32-year-old took four top-10 finishes from six stages, including a crucial second place on the penultimate stage. On that day Majerus was part of the winning breakaway that saw Franziska Koch (Sunweb) take stage honours. With Majerus taking 44 seconds on the main field, she was able to move into the overall lead.

Rising Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes (Parkhotel Valkenburg) won two stages and finished second overall, ahead of stage 3 winner Lisa Klein (Canyon-SRAM).

Pascal Ackermann wins again at GP de Fourmies

Dual Giro d’Italia stage winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) has taken his second consecutive victory at the GP de Fourmies in northern France.

The 87th edition of the one-day race came down to a bunch sprint which was marred by a crash in the finishing straight. Ackermann just managed to avoid the incident, allowing him to power through for his 10th win of the year.

Emerging sprinter Jasper Philipsen (UAE-Team Emirates) and Boy Van Poppel (Roompot-Charles) completed the podium.

Ferrand Prevot, Forster win Snowshoe XC MTB World Cup

A week after winning her second cross-country MTB world title, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has won the final MTB World Cup of the 2019 season.

The Frenchwoman beat Anne Terpstra (Netherlands) and Annie Last (Great Britain) in a tightly contested tussle that came down a sprint.

In the elite men’s race, Lars Forster (Switzerland) got the better of compatriot (and world champion) Nino Schurter while Maxime Marotte (France) was just behind in third:

Kate Courtney and Schurter took out the final World Cup standings.

Wout van Aert back riding

Nearly two months after a horrible crash that took him out of the Tour de France, Wout van Aert is back riding.

The Belgian went out for a 7.5km e-bike ride on Sunday — his first ride since the stage 13 individual time trial of the Tour de France where he crashed into a roadside barrier.

The ride is only the second activity Van Aert has done since his crash — the first was a 1.5km swim he did on Friday.

Tweet of the day

Some bad luck here for Kiwi Luke Mudgway (EvoPro Racing) after DNF-ing at the Antwerp Port Classic over the weekend:

Coming up at the Vuelta

Monday’s stage 16 of the Vuelta is another tough one, with three big Cantabrian climbs on the menu.

The last of those climbs, to Alto de La Cubilla, is a sizeable 18.1km at 6%.

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Feature Image: Sepp Kuss winning stage 15 of the Vuelta. Image courtesy of Cor Vos.

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