As a youngster growing up in Durango Colorado, Sepp Kuss never expected to become a key member of a Grand Tour winning WorldTour team. Back then, he was busy riding his mountain bike with friends, looking forward to the annual Durango Devo campout in the desert where him and his friends would build jumps and look for UFOs. He was just riding his bike, and having a good time.
Though he’s always taken his riding and training seriously, the 25-year-old American has never suffered from the tunnel vision that can stifle cycling talent. As a U23, he raced World Cups for the National Team and he won two collegiate national MTB titles. But when sponsorships fell through, he turned his focus to the road, where he quickly emerged as a star.
The young amateur quickly climbed through the ranks, landing on a continental professional team, collecting wins at major races in the US, then punching his WorldTour ticket with Jumbo-Visma in 2018. During his second full year in Europe, Kuss helped teammate Primož Roglič win the Vuelta a España and along the way picked up a Grand Tour stage victory for himself.
But as high as Kuss climbs in the professional ranks, he remains grounded in his outlook on cycling. The opportunities life has presented him may have differed from his expectations as a young mountain biker, but with a flexible perspective, those opportunities have led him far beyond his wildest dreams.
