SEPP KUSS SOLOED to victory on the sixth stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday, as reigning champion Remco Evenepoel gave away the leader’s red jersey to Lenny Martinez.
Jumbo-Visma rider Kuss and his team-mates enjoyed a fine afternoon, with general classification contenders Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic putting 32 seconds into Evenepoel.
The Belgian Soudal-QuickStep rider said Thursday he aimed to give away the red jersey on this stage, but he would not have wanted to lose time to his rivals.
French rider Martinez, of team Groupama-FDJ, now leads overall by eight seconds from Kuss, with Evenepoel 2:47 behind in ninth.
Evenepoel’s decision, one he also made at the Giro d’Italia, created a frantic start to the stage, with frequent attacks.
UAE Team Emirates rider Jay Vine had to abandon the Vuelta after a crash in the opening section.
Eventually a huge breakaway group of over 40 cyclists formed, carving out a lead of more than six minutes on the peloton.
For a while it looked like Evenepoel’s plan had spiralled out of hand, with the peloton having to work very hard to reel in the break in the 183.5 kilometres stage between La Vall d’Uixo and the final Javalambre mountain climb.
The break hit the base of the category one final climb, Pico del Buitre — Vulture’s Beak — with 3:44 advantage, virtually confirming there would be a new red jersey.
Kuss attacked, passing Movistar’s Einer Rubio and sailed through to the finish in style, high-fiving spectators before crossing the line.
In the peloton Roglic launched an attack, with Vingegaard, Aleksandre Vlasov and Enric Mas following him, while Evenepoel could not respond.
However the QuickStep rider, isolated, pushed himself and ensured he only lost half a minute to his main Jumbo-Visma rivals.
Stage seven on Friday takes riders 201 flat kilometres from Utiel to Oliva, an easier ride for the general classification contenders and likely to offer a bunch sprint finish.
