DPA
· 13.09.2023
Team Jumbo-Visma once again used the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain for a demonstration of power. Primoz Roglic won the mountain finish at the legendary Altu de L'Angliru ahead of his team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, who finished in the same time, and Sepp Kuss, the Dutch team's third top rider.
On his 29th birthday, the US-American Kuss saved an eight-second lead in the overall classification and remains the holder of the red jersey. Second is the two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard from Denmark, third the Slovenian Roglic (+1.08 minutes behind).
Vingegaard and Roglic broke away from Kuss in the dense fog on the final 12.4 kilometre climb, with three-time Vuelta winner Roglic doing most of the leading work. Neither of the top riders took any notice of their team-mate, who was leading the overall standings. Birthday boy Kuss reportedly saw no problem in this. "These are two great champions, I'm very happy to be able to work with them," he said afterwards on Eurosport.
Vingegaard and Roglic emphasised that they would not begrudge their noble helper the overall victory at this year's Vuelta. "Both are riding with a knife between their teeth and want to take every second from him, and then they say that he should win. That's interesting," said former pro and Eurosport pundit Jens Voigt. The 78th edition of the Tour of Spain ends next Sunday.
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