Sepp Kuss Completes Grand Tour Stage-Win Trilogy at Giro d'Italia

American climber Sepp Kuss has become a member of an elite group by winning stages across all three Grand Tours in a single season, capturing victory on the punishing queen stage of the Giro d'Italia in the Dolomites and solidifying Visma-Lease a Bike's dominance in this year's race. The meisterknecht of overall leader Jonas Vingegaard powered past Giulio Ciccone on the final climb to claim the stage, while teammate Vingegaard controlled proceedings among the general classification contenders.

The Dolomites Showdown

The stage unfolded as a complex battle across multiple climbs, with Ciccone emerging as the aggressor by collecting mountain points on each ascent, including 50 points atop Passo Giau. However, his bid for stage victory unraveled on the final climb, where the Dolomites' steep gradients proved decisive. Kuss, who had positioned himself in a breakaway group alongside teammate Derek Gee-West and others, accelerated with approximately 800 metres remaining to overtake Ciccone and create a gap that the Italian could not bridge.

Gee-West finished second, 13 seconds behind Kuss, while Ciccone completed the podium in third place. Among the favourites, Italian climber Felix Gall claimed fourth place, with Jai Hindley rounding out the top five at 43 seconds down. Jonas Vingegaard, riding in the pink leader's jersey, followed the key moves without exerting himself, allowing his domestique to claim the stage honours and reinforcing Visma-Lease a Bike's control of the race.

Classification Shake-up

The stage produced significant changes in the overall standings. Dutch climber Thymen Arensman, who finished 12th at 1 minute 45 seconds down, lost his third-place position to Hindley in the general classification. Arensman's performance on the climb indicated the Dutchman fell short of matching the pace of the race's strongest climbers, marking a critical turning point in his podium ambitions with approximately one week remaining.

Kuss's victory marks a historic achievement: he has now won mountain stages across the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, and Giro d'Italia within the same calendar year. This accomplishment places him among an exclusive group of cyclists who have demonstrated climbing prowess across all three Grand Tours, a rare distinction in professional cycling.