Sepp Kuss, born Sepp Kuss on September 13, 1994, in Durango, Colorado, is an American professional road cyclist.
He was immersed in outdoor activities from a young age, including Nordic skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, and ice hockey, which shaped his endurance and versatility as an athlete.
Kuss transitioned from mountain biking to road cycling during his college years at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he earned a degree in advertising while dominating collegiate competitions.
Now riding for the UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike, Kuss has become a pivotal figure in American cycling, celebrated for his role as a super-domestique who supports team leaders while occasionally seizing victories for himself.
Siblings
Sepp has one sibling, a brother named Trevor Kuss. Trevor is also an endurance cyclist who has competed in the Leadville 100 and other races.
Unfortunately, not much is know about Trevor beyond this, as he lives a private life compared to his famous brother.
Career
Kuss’s cycling journey began in the mountains of Colorado, where he joined the Durango Devo youth mountain bike program in fourth grade, competing alongside future stars like Olympian Howard Grotts and world champion Christopher Blevins.
Initially excelling in Nordic skiing and mountain biking, Kuss won three national collegiate titles in cross-country and short-track events at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014 and 2015, even representing the U.S. at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
His shift to road racing came gradually during college, sparked by a collegiate club introduction in 2015; by 2016, he was racing with the amateur Intermountain LiveWell team and finishing strongly in events like the Tour of the Gila.
Turning professional in 2017 with Rally Cycling, Kuss quickly impressed in North American stage races, securing a second-place overall at the Tour of Alberta and a stage win at the Tour of Utah that propelled him to a WorldTour contract with LottoNL-Jumbo (now Visma–Lease a Bike) in 2018.
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His rookie Grand Tour that year was the Vuelta a España, where he gained invaluable experience as a climber.
Kuss’s breakthrough arrived in 2019 with a stage victory at the Vuelta, followed by a dominant 2018 Tour of Utah general classification win—though chronologically his first major GC triumph.
He solidified his reputation as a mountain specialist in 2020, claiming stage 5 at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and in 2021, he etched his name in Tour de France history with a solo win on stage 15, the first American stage victory there since 2011.
By 2023, Kuss had evolved into an indispensable domestique for teammates Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, helping secure Giro d’Italia and Tour de France wins while finishing 12th overall in the Tour himself.
That year also saw him claim an unexpected overall victory at the Vuelta a España after a dramatic intra-team battle, completing Visma’s historic sweep of all three Grand Tours in one season—the first team ever to do so.
In 2024, despite a 14th-place finish at the Vuelta where he prioritized support duties, Kuss rebounded with a general classification win at the Vuelta a Burgos and the mountains classification at Itzulia Basque Country, reaffirming his climbing prowess at age 30.
Accolades
Kuss’s early triumphs include three U.S. collegiate national championships in 2014 and 2015, a 36th-place finish at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, and strong amateur results like fourth on the Mogollon climb at the 2016 Tour of the Gila.
Professionally, he captured the overall general classification at the 2018 Tour of Utah in his debut pro season, followed by a breakthrough stage win on stage 15 of the 2019 Vuelta a España.
The 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné stage 5 victory highlighted his growing stature, but 2021’s stage 15 win at the Tour de France—his first in the world’s biggest race—cemented his legacy as the first American to triumph there since Tejay van Garderen in 2011.
Kuss added another Tour stage in 2023 while aiding Vingegaard’s overall win, finishing 12th himself.
His crowning achievement came in 2023 at the Vuelta a España, where he won two stages (including stage 6) and the general classification, becoming the first American Grand Tour winner since Chris Horner in 2013 and the second cyclist ever to podium all three Grand Tours in a single year.
In 2024, he secured the overall at Vuelta a Burgos and the king of the mountains jersey at Itzulia Basque Country, bringing his career victory total to 12 UCI races.
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