2023 Vuelta a España winner Sepp Kuss has abandoned the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné and will not start the final day’s racing on Sunday.
The Visma-Lease A Bike climber “has not felt at 100% in recent stages,” his team posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“With his preparation for the Tour de France in mind, it was decided to take the necessary rest.”
After a difficult week, Kuss was lying 38th overall after stage 7, 30:55 on former teammate and race leader Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe). He lost over three minutes in the mid-week time trial and then shed time steadily in the two major mountain stages on Friday and Saturday.
Kuss best performance in the Critérium du Dauphine to date was in 2020 when he won a stage and finished tenth overall.
Kuss is expected to play his usual key role for the Dutch team in the upcoming Tour de France. But with ongoing questionmarks over the participation of double defending champion and teammate Jonas Vingegaard, it has yet to be seen what the exact plans are for Visma-Lease A Bike in cycling’s top stage race.
Visma-Lease A Bike have had three abandons in the Critérium du Dauphiné to date, with Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk both forced to quit as a result of their injuries from the stage five mass crash.
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On the plus side, Matteo Jorgenson remains in the race along with three other teammates, with the 2024 Paris-Nice winner currently lying second overall, 1:02 down on Roglič, as he continues what is fast becoming a breakthrough season for the young American racer.
The Critérium du Dauphiné has seen numerous abandons this year, many as a result of the stage 5 crash. 21 riders quit either before or during stage 7 alone and a further six were reported DNS on stage 8. Alongside Kuss, Astana Qazaqstan’s Harold Tejada, Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek), Clément Champoussin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Tom Paquot (Intermarché-Wanty) and Mark Donovan (Q36.5) all did not take to the final startline of the 2024 race.
