¡Vamos, Seppy!
Kuss rides into history with Durango in his heart

Less than 100 kilometers to the finish line in Madrid, Durango’s Sepp Kuss was moments away from making American cycling history when live coverage of the Vuelta a España began Sunday in the U.S.

The first image delivered to the American viewing public was the man in the leader’s red jersey, and it was none other than Kuss sending a message back home.

“Hi dad. Love you mom. Hello Durango,” Kuss said, smiling into the NBC camera. Durango swelled with pride once more in admiration of their improbable champion – from a kid once riding around with Durango Devo to an American cycling icon at the highest level of the sport.

A few hours later, Kuss stood atop the podium of the third and final Grand Tour of the road cycling season. He became the first American to win the race since 2013 and only the second ever to do so alongside Chris Horner. And he became only the fourth American ever to officially win one of cycling’s three Grand Tour races, which includes the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta.

The name “Kuss” is now safely alongside the legendary Greg LeMond, Andy Hampsten and Horner as the only U.S. Grand Tour victors. 

The 29-year-old has given American road cycling its first true icon since the black eye left on the sport in this country when Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis had their own Grand Tour wins vacated because of doping controversies.

It has been a meteoric rise from mountain biker to World Tour hopeful in 2017, and now a Grand Tour champion with the eyes of the world fixated on his success. Despite this, Kuss has stayed true to the kind-hearted guy that every Durangoan who has met him is happy to call a friend.

While celebrating in front of fireworks filling the Madrid skyline and standing on the podium with his wife, Noemi, and his mother, Sabina, Kuss’ mind was on his father, Dolph, watching back home along with everyone he wished to share the moment with.

“I am always thinking about my dad back home and my hometown of Durango – a big shout out to Durango,” Kuss said with enthusiasm and his trademark grin.

Local support for Kuss could be found everywhere from Main Avenue to social media. The sign outside Tarpley RV read “Let’s Go Sepp!” while three-time mountain bike Olympian Todd Wells hung a “SEPP KUSS” banner written in red paint from his second-story office in downtown Durango.

“It’s great to see the reactions in the United States, especially in my hometown,” Kuss said.

The coronation of Kuss was the celebration of the good guy finally having his day. Kuss had previously been a support rider for his teammates Primož Rogli? and Jonas Vingegaard en route to six of their own combined Grand Tour victories. This time, Kuss got the chance to race for the overall win. Along the way, the pressure mounted, drama unfolded and the world rallied behind Kuss to reveal he was perhaps the most popular athlete in the sport worldwide.

Media attention was at an all-time high, and Kuss was thrust into the spotlight with many looking to pull at any thread that might unravel him. Through it all, Kuss never swayed from his easy-going and humble ways, refusing to take the bait or allow his personality to be altered.

“He’s still the same Sepp we traveled around in a Durango Devo van with,” pro cyclist Payson McElveen, said. The two were teammates on the Sweet Elite team when the riders were teenagers. “All the same mannerisms, his sense of humor and amiable attitude. He’s getting all this praise and financial reward that comes with this level of success, but to not change who you are and how you treat people, that’s incredible to me,” McElveen said. “It doesn’t surprise me, but it’s a nice reminder that you can be a role model for young American cyclists in so many different ways.”

Kuss won the sixth stage of the Vuelta but wouldn’t go into the overall leader’s red jersey until two days later. He perhaps could have snagged the jersey after his stage win, but in typical Kuss fashion, he didn’t chase every possible second to the finish line. Instead, sporting a big smile, he took time to slap a few high-fives with spectators lining the road. In Durango, those are moments that endear his fans and friends to him all the more.

He followed that stage win with an iconic 13-second chug off the massive champagne bottle awarded the day’s winner. Had Kuss not gone on to win the entire race and shown his incredible physical and mental toughness, it would have gone down as the most memorable moment from the three weeks. In Durango, the chug was celebrated as much as the win itself.

“We get together, and he’s the guy building a beer can pyramid or throwing french fries around in the McDonald’s drive thru lane at 2 a.m. not long after winning a Tour de France stage,” McElveen said. “I would be shocked and disappointed if that isn’t how things went.”

In victory that day, Kuss thanked his childhood Devo coach, Chad Cheeney, for all he did to instill a sense of fun in cycling to go with the competitive side of the sport. Though he now calls Andorra home, Kuss makes it clear Durango is with him during the biggest moments of his career.

“It makes me feel incredibly proud of the team we cultivated with Devo and reinforces that team culture that we can see really sticks with you to the end of the road,” Cheeney said. “It makes the whole tribe here in Durango feel really good to see him acknowledge all the things that have gotten him here. This little guy we all know and love in Durango, we still see that same smile.”

While Kuss has long been a hero in his hometown, his celebrity status in Europe might not be easy to understand for the average American in a country where cycling is far from a mainstream sport.

“People probably don’t even understand how hard it is to even finish a Grand Tour, let alone win,” said Durango’s Quinn Simmons, the reigning road national champion and fellow World Tour rider with three Grand Tour starts to his name. “In Spain, he just won the Super Bowl. Take whoever the most popular quarterback is in the U.S. In Spain right now, that quarterback is Sepp Kuss.”

He’s the man of the hour in Spain and across Europe. But here in Durango, he’s the same old “Seppy” the town has always loved, which we all got to witness for three glorious weeks. 

Whether he’s winning the biggest races in the world or back home having a cheeseburger and a beer, Kuss is and always will be one of us. And that’s why we love him.

“It’s not often you get his attitude among the top stars in each sport. But he’s just a Durango kid raised in our culture,” Cheeney said. “You never forget that feeling of having fun on a bike and sharing success with your friends. Sepp’s still doing that. He’s definitely inspiring another generation of Durango cyclists but even more good humans out of Durango at the same time.”