# @rouleurmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C2LA67ttxnc
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/19981389-rouleurmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/88304f3a38.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-01-16T19:00:48.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Rouleur (@rouleurmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/rouleurmagazine

## Caption

One of the most intriguing storylines as the 2024 racing season gets underway is what role Sepp Kuss will be deployed in. Will #GCKuss return to a pleading hashtag, or will the affable American be afforded leadership opportunities throughout the campaign⁠?
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It has already been confirmed by Visma-Lease a Bike that Kuss will ride in support of Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, before then going to the Vuelta a España as reigning champion. Kuss’s success at last season's third Grand Tour was celebrated as a victory for a committed servant, a win for what many believe is the sport’s best pure climber. But switching his duties so radically in the wake of his greatest triumph is not being considered by his Dutch team.⁠
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“Going to the Vuelta as a leader is a possibility, and he will defend his title, but to suddenly put a lot of emphasis on Sepp being a leader, having six or seven riders around him working all day, is not the approach that will make Sepp flourish,” Mathieu Heijboer, the team’s head of performance, tells Rouleur. “He will always be one of our most important riders in a race since he’s so good, but in the bigger picture of team strategy, he has a specific role. I definitely do not think that we have to make him a deliberate leader for one-week races to be good at the Vuelta – that’s not the approach we will take.”⁠
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Heijboer accepts that Kuss’ Vuelta win, when he narrowly edged out his team-mates Vingegaard and Primož Roglič and after a fraught final week battle, has altered his own goals. “In terms of mentality, I feel like he is a little bit more ambitious,” the Dutchman continues, “and he learned to know a new Sepp in the Vuelta, one who is very strong, not only physically but also mentally.”⁠
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Read the full article via the link in our bio or on the Rouleur app 🔗📱⁠
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📸 - jstartt⁠
✍🏻 - Chris Marshall-Bell

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