On a day that triggered fallout and intrigue from riders and cycling fans alike, Kuss lost time to his team-mates on Stage 17 as Roglic and Vingegaard crossed the line first and second respectively.
Kuss outsprinted Mikel Landa of Bahrain Victorious to snatch third and limit his losses, but the result meant his lead over Vingegaard in the general classification dropped to just eight seconds, while it also led to talk of intra-team tension between the three riders.
And Zeeman now says it was wrong of Roglic and Vingegaard to “start attacking” their team-mate and race leader.
“Sepp couldn’t keep up with Primoz and Jonas at one point. Then there was no more teamwork.
‘They’re not waiting!’ – Kuss dropped by Jumbo-Visma team-mates
“Everything that happened up to that point had been teamwork but on the Angliru they should have stayed together.
“Attacking to make other riders have to work is something different to when you start attacking each other.
“I should add right away that when you ride uphill on gradients of up to 20% you race with a heart rate of 200, so you can’t expect those guys to think clearly.”
Roglic says ‘the road will tell who is the best’ after dropping Kuss to win Stage 17
“The way we built the whole team is that you ask people from the bottom up – how do you look at it?” Zeeman added. “Give your opinion and talk to each other instead of about each other.
“We started this in 2016 or 2017 and a strong foundation has rolled out from there, a culture. That’s essentially what our team has been built on.
‘Unfair, uncomfortable viewing’ – Breakaway react to Kuss getting dropped on Stage 17
“Cycling for us is a team sport not an individual one. That evening I put all the men together around one table. I spoke to Jonas, Sepp, and Primoz beforehand and heard their views.
“But then I got eight grown men together and said: ‘Guys, this is what happened today. I have my thoughts on this, but I think it’s much more important what you think’.
“What do we stand for now? Who are we actually? Seven riders agreed that [Kuss winning] must be the final result.
“Primoz had a more difficult time with this, but he agreed to it. That was also because his team-mates indicated it so forcefully. In the end he said: ‘Sepp has to win and you can count on me’.”
Read the full article here
