📸 Kuss continued his preparation, after a setback in Oman, in a remarkable destination

Kuss’s first outing of the year did not unfold as he will have hoped beforehand. A 33rd place in the Muscat Classic was not yet cause for alarm, but the results in the subsequent Tour of Oman were disappointing. On stage 2, the American crossed the line on Yitti Hills in 108th place, almost fifteen minutes behind stage winner Baptiste Veistroffer.

That did prove to be a warning sign, as Kuss did not start stage 3 a day later. The reason was illness. At the time, Visma | Lease a Bike said: “Unfortunately, Sepp Kuss was unable to start the third stage of the Tour of Oman after showing symptoms of illness. Get well soon, Sepp!”

That setback dented Kuss’s preparation for the Giro d’Italia. The former Vuelta a España winner is targeting the Giro in May, before aiming to play an important role again in July as one of Jonas Vingegaard’s key mountain domestiques in the Tour de France. Earlier this year, Kuss also said he would ride both the Giro and the Tour, underlining how important those goals are in his 2026 campaign.

That setback dented Kuss’s preparation for the Giro d’Italia. The former Vuelta a España winner is targeting the Giro in May, before aiming to play an important role again in July as one of Jonas Vingegaard’s key mountain domestiques in the Tour de France. Earlier this year, Kuss also said he would ride both the Giro and the Tour, underlining how important those goals are in his 2026 campaign.

On Instagram, the climber from Durango shared beautiful images from South America. “Grateful to do what I love in such a beautiful place, surrounded by great people. Ready to pin on a number again,” Kuss wrote. The Colombia link is not entirely new either: Visma’s own channels previously noted that Kuss had also used Colombia as a training base earlier in his career.