Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) conquered the tough slopes of Lagunas de Neila to win stage 3 at the Vuelta a Burgos and move into the race lead with two days remaining.
After crashing on the first two stages, Kuss bounced back with a bang, attacking first with 1.7km to go and kicking again inside the final 900m to distance Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and take his first victory since winning the Vuelta a España last season.
Cepeda ended third after a late charge from Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) saw him cross the line seven seconds behind the American, with Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) taking fourth 20 seconds down.
Kuss takes the overall lead heading into the final two stages, with pre-stage race leader Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) dropping early in the climbing-packed 138km stage. Kuss holds a gap of 13 seconds and 24 seconds to Cepeda and Poole who are currently sitting in the podium places.
It's been a rough few months for Kuss after contracting COVID-19 at the Critérium du Dauphiné and being forced to miss out on the Tour de France where he would have been able to help Jonas Vingegaard.
He now switches focus to his own ambitions in pursuit of the Vuelta a España which kicks off on August 17, where he will defend the red jersey he won last season in historic fashion.
This win, his first of the season, not only shows he's well on track for the Vuelta, but also highlights how well his Visma team are firing heading into that race, with the likes of Cian Uijtdebroeks working well and the men in yellow and black dominating road position heading into the final two key climbs.
Kuss will look to defend his 13-second lead on stage 4, where a very flat 18.5km time trial from Santa María del Campo to Pampliega should have a big impact on the general classification standings.
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