Vuelta a Espana: Kuss wins stage 6 - Roglic & Vingegaard overtake Evenepoel
Thomas Goldmann
· 31.08.2023
Jumbo-Visma put Remco Evenepoel on the defensive on stage 6 of the Tour of Spain 2023. Sepp Kuss won the stage from a leading group. The red jersey now sits on the shoulders of Frenchman Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), who was also in the breakaway group.
Behind them, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard attacked Remco Evenepoel. The Giro and Tour winner put the previous red jersey holder in big trouble at times. In the end, Evenepoel lost around half a minute on the strong Jumbo-Visma duo.
Sepp Kuss on victory on stage 6 of the 2023 Vuelta
"That was an incredibly tough stage. We wanted to be in the breakaway today to test Soudal - Quick Step, because we knew that the stage would be difficult to control. We were in the lead group with Dylan (van Baarle; editor's note), Jan (Tratnik; editor's note) and Attila (Valter; editor's note). They rode superbly. I have to thank them. I myself felt very good and only thought about when to attack. I enjoyed the whole final climb. The Vuelta is a special race for me," explained stage winner Sepp Kuss in the official winner's interview.
Vuelta a Espana 2023 - Results: The top 10 of stage 6
- Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) 4:27:29
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +0:26
- Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) +0:31
- Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:46
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +0:46
- Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:03
- One Rubio (Movistar) +1:05
- Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-Samsic) +1:12
- Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) +1:12
- Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural) +1:26
The overall standings
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) 21:40:35
- Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +0:08
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +0:51
- Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:41
- Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) +1:48
- Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:58
- Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural) +2:06
- David de la Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +2:23
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:47
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:50
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +2:52
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Vimsa) +2:58
- Hugh Carthy (EF Education EasyPost) +3:03
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +3:06
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:08
This is how the 6th stage of the Tour of Spain 2023 went
It took a long time before a breakaway group was able to break away from the peloton. But it was a tough one. The day's leading group comprised more than 30 riders. Among them were Lennard Kämna and Emanuel Buchmann from Bora-Hansgrohe. However, the two German pros no longer played a role on the final climb and fell back there. Soudal - Quick Step did their best to keep the breakaway group's lead from becoming too large. Lenny Martinez, the best-placed rider, was only 17 seconds behind Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian's team was supported by Movistar and Ineos Grenadiers, who also followed in the peloton and reduced the gap to the leading group to around 3:30 minutes by the foot of the final climb.
Vuelta a Espana 2023: Two races on stage 6
Two races took place there: The battle for victory on stage 6 of the Vuelta took place at the front, while at the back the favourites tried to hold each other off. After an attack by Einer Rubio (Movistar), Lenny Martinez and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) caught up with the Colombian at the front, followed shortly afterwards by Sepp Kuss. The American took off straight away, leaving his companions behind and winning the stage. It wasn't quite enough to take the red jersey. That was secured by 20-year-old Martinez, who finished 26 seconds behind Kuss.
Primoz Roglic attacked in the group of favourites. Remco Evenepoel did not react to the Slovenian's attack and quickly dropped back. Only Jonas Vingegaard and Enric Mas (Movistar) were able to catch up. However, the Spaniard also had to let the Jumbo-Visma tandem go in the final kilometre. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) came closest, finishing just seven seconds behind Roglic and Vingegaard. And Evenepoel also kept the damage within limits in the end. The time trial world champion lost 32 seconds to his two big rivals. This still leaves him five seconds ahead of Vingegaard and eleven ahead of Roglic in the overall standings.
Roglic and Vingegaard satisfied
"I had slightly better legs today. There's still a long way to go. But it was a good day. We won the stage and made up time, so we're not complaining. You can't ask for more," said Roglic at the finish on Eurosport.
His team-mate Vingegaard didn't want to disagree: "That was a good stage. We put pressure on Soudal - Quick Step and it went really well for us."
"If that was a bad day, then it was fine." Remco Evenepoel
Evenepoel admitted that he didn't have his best day. "When the attacks came, I rode my own pace. In the end, I was 30 seconds slower than the fastest riders. It didn't feel like I was riding all-out, it was more of a controlled effort. I couldn't go over the limit. You have days like this. Today I didn't have the best legs," said Evenepoel and added: "I was able to accelerate a bit in the last two kilometres. That was a bit strange. The race was very tough right from the start. I had to find my own rhythm. The good thing is that I got faster in the last two kilometres and had something left in the tank in the last 500 metres. If that was a bad day, then it was fine."
Vuelta 2023: The 6th stage to read in the blog
On Friday, the Tour of Spain continues with the Stage 7 which could again be something for the sprinters.
