Teams & Riders Sepp Kuss is the next Sepp Kuss thread

[Potomac]

He will doing the Giro. Excellent news.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

I'm excited. Hope he makes it through the first half unscathed/uncrashed to light it up in the later stages.

 

[Koronin]

Glad to hear this. As long as he can get through the first half without issues he has a chance to do something in the second half.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He was going to ride California originally, so assuming he was working towards that as a goal, he should be in good shape at the beginning of the Giro, but with room for improvement as the Giro progresses.

 

[Lequack]

Sepp Kuss: Dream scenario riding for Giro d'Italia's pink jersey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4kdb1-WCGU&feature=youtu.be

 

[Potomac]

By the time I tune into the Giro, Roglic is left all alone. So is Kuss working really hard everyday helping to control the race early and is spent by the end of a stage? Or is a GT proving too much and he is struggling the entire race?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

By the time I tune into the Giro, Roglic is left all alone. So is Kuss working really hard everyday helping to control the race early and is spent by the end of a stage? Or is a GT proving too much and he is struggling the entire race?

Nope.

It was not too hard for him last year in the Vuelta. He probably has not timed his form perfectly for this race.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

By the time I tune into the Giro, Roglic is left all alone. So is Kuss working really hard everyday helping to control the race early and is spent by the end of a stage? Or is a GT proving too much and he is struggling the entire race?

Nope.

It was not too hard for him last year in the Vuelta. He probably has not timed his form perfectly for this race.

That would make sense since he added at the last minute and wasn't supposed to be at the Giro. Still, he was supposedly going to be co-leader at Cali so you'd think he'd have some form but he certainly hasn't.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I saw him today at the start of the stage and for what it's worth his legs totally don't look like pro legs. They looked soft, with very little muscle definition, pretty much the opposite of what you'd expect.

 

[Lequack]

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

 

[Squire]

Re:

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

Maybe they get stressed out by the manouvering in the peloton. American roads are mainly big and wide.

It could also just be that the level in American races is just that much lower overall. It's not like Kuss was facing Dumoulin and Quintana in Utah.

 

[Lequack]

Re: Re:

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

Maybe they get stressed out by the manouvering in the peloton. American roads are mainly big and wide.

It could also just be that the level in American races is just that much lower overall. It's not like Kuss was facing Dumoulin and Quintana in Utah.

It's true but watts don't lie, and he was pretty doing pretty good on those.
This is the watts he was pushing on the climbs:
"Impressive figures from Sepp Kuss. For reference, he weighs just over 130 pounds (58kg). So that’s around 6.1 watts/kg for half an hour on stage 5. "

 

[roundabout]

Re:

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

Not only American.

Whenever this thread pops up on the front page I read the title as Sepp Kuss is the next Lachlan Morton thread.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

By the time I tune into the Giro, Roglic is left all alone. So is Kuss working really hard everyday helping to control the race early and is spent by the end of a stage? Or is a GT proving too much and he is struggling the entire race?

Nope.

It was not too hard for him last year in the Vuelta. He probably has not timed his form perfectly for this race.

There were literally two stages that he did "good". The rest of the Vuelta, he was nowhere to be seen.

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

Maybe they get stressed out by the manouvering in the peloton. American roads are mainly big and wide.

It could also just be that the level in American races is just that much lower overall. It's not like Kuss was facing Dumoulin and Quintana in Utah.

It's true but watts don't lie, and he was pretty doing pretty good on those.

Maybe we should first figure out what exactly his weight is/was because there seem to be some different sources for that. Also, watts don't paint the full picture. If his watts were so impressive, surely he should have been lightyears ahead of Hermans. But back in reality, he only took two minutes on three mountain stages. While still good and impressive, hardly the earthshattering achievement it was made out to be by some.

Apart from Utah, one stage in Cali two years ago, and two stages in the Vuelta, this guy still has everything to prove imho. He's turning 25 this summer, he seems like a nice enough guy, but the hype was hardly warranted. But since Jumbo extended his contract, they still have plans for him. I'm just wondering if those plans are 3rd tier domestique (like now) or if they still have faith that he might grow into a more prominent role.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

By the time I tune into the Giro, Roglic is left all alone. So is Kuss working really hard everyday helping to control the race early and is spent by the end of a stage? Or is a GT proving too much and he is struggling the entire race?

Nope.

It was not too hard for him last year in the Vuelta. He probably has not timed his form perfectly for this race.

There were literally two stages that he did "good". The rest of the Vuelta, he was nowhere to be seen.

A lot of American riders seem to perform much better in American races for some reason and have trouble in Europe. Not sure why though.

Maybe they get stressed out by the manouvering in the peloton. American roads are mainly big and wide.

It could also just be that the level in American races is just that much lower overall. It's not like Kuss was facing Dumoulin and Quintana in Utah.

It's true but watts don't lie, and he was pretty doing pretty good on those.

Maybe we should first figure out what exactly his weight is/was because there seem to be some different sources for that. Also, watts don't paint the full picture. If his watts were so impressive, surely he should have been lightyears ahead of Hermans. But back in reality, he only took two minutes on three mountain stages. While still good and impressive, hardly the earthshattering achievement it was made out to be by some.

Apart from Utah, one stage in Cali two years ago, and two stages in the Vuelta, this guy still has everything to prove imho. He's turning 25 this summer, he seems like a nice enough guy, but the hype was hardly warranted. But since Jumbo extended his contract, they still have plans for him. I'm just wondering if those plans are 3rd tier domestique (like now) or if they still have faith that he might grow into a more prominent role.

Which he indeed was.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
I think i must have a different view on what that means. Because to me 32, 38 and 39 seconds in 3 mountain stages, is not what i would describe as "lightyears ahead". But ok.

 

[tobydawq]

To me, attacking from the bottom of three mountains in three different stages, winning each stage convincingly, is putting lightyears between oneself and the opposition.

But I think we had this discussion last August as well, and I guess neither of us has changed our mind.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Seems like it. And i'm going to try not to go further into it even though he's done little to prove me wrong since. Because every time it seems like i have a grudge towards the guy, which i don't. Seems like a nice enough kid. I just don't feel like what he has done in the past few years, is anything extraordinairy, in the sense that we should expect great things from him in GT GC. That's all i'm saying. Utah is even more of a joke race than California is, and his opposition was 3rd tier at best. In the grand scope of things, pretty meaningless.

 

[Koronin]

I don't think anyone was expecting him to be high in GC, just expecting him to be of help to Roglic.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

I don't think anyone was expecting him to be high in GC, just expecting him to be of help to Roglic.

I wasn't talking about this Giro. Just, as a future contender in general.

 

[Lequack]

Just keep sending him to Utah.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

I don't think anyone was expecting him to be high in GC, just expecting him to be of help to Roglic.

I wasn't talking about this Giro. Just, as a future contender in general.

Ah. At this point I'm not sure I expect much GC wise from any American rider. Doesn't mean others won't.

 

[Bolder]

Re: Re:

I don't think anyone was expecting him to be high in GC, just expecting him to be of help to Roglic.

I wasn't talking about this Giro. Just, as a future contender in general.

Unfortunately he's been of no help to Roglic. I did think he'd be able to help on the Mortirolo, ie, keeping his powder dry for that one big effort. I guess he'll get one more year on the WT but if the results don't come then he should probably head back to the US.

Not sure what it's going to take to build a strong lineup of US riders. I suspect you'd need to have a money-is-no-object sponsor and build a Sky/Ineos structure. But given the struggles Vaugters has had to keep a team going, don't think that's going to happen. US sponsors, rightly so, are still gun-shy after the USPS debacle.

 

[Lequack]

Here's an interview with him from yesterday.

Sepp Kuss: Progressing in the Giro d'Italia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5aKiEyvm3c&feature=youtu.be

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

I don't think anyone was expecting him to be high in GC, just expecting him to be of help to Roglic.

I wasn't talking about this Giro. Just, as a future contender in general.

Unfortunately he's been of no help to Roglic. I did think he'd be able to help on the Mortirolo, ie, keeping his powder dry for that one big effort. I guess he'll get one more year on the WT but if the results don't come then he should probably head back to the US.

Not sure what it's going to take to build a strong lineup of US riders. I suspect you'd need to have a money-is-no-object sponsor and build a Sky/Ineos structure. But given the struggles Vaugters has had to keep a team going, don't think that's going to happen. US sponsors, rightly so, are still gun-shy after the USPS debacle.

He hasn't and that was what I was hoping for.

That's unlikely to happen. Also the best athletes in the US are split between football (American version), basketball, baseball and to a lesser degree hockey. Cycling is more of a niche sport than even swimming and track and field are as many kids participate in those in high school/college.