Sepp Kuss will miss the 2024 Tour de France after Visma-Ries-a-Bike revealed that he has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 infection that forced him to abandon the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Vuelta a España champion Vingegaard was initially included in the Visma selection announced last week for Jonas Vingegaard's third consecutive Tour. Vingegaard will be without Kuss, and Bart Lemmen will fill in for him.

Vimalis a Bike announced the news on Tuesday morning, four days before the Grande Palais in Florence.

"TDF lineup change. Sepp Kuss has not recovered sufficiently from COVID-19 and will not compete in the Tour de France. Bart Lemmen will fill in for him," a social media post from the team read. 'Get well soon, Sepp.'

Lemmen, who will replace Kuss, made a late switch to cycling after a career in the military, moving from Human Powered Health to the Dutch superteam at the end of 2023.

The 28-year-old Dutchman is flanked by Matteo Jorgenson, Wilco Kelderman, Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Jan Tratnik, and GC leader Vingegaard.

Kuss has been Vingegaard's most important domestique in the past two Tours and is widely respected as one of the best super-domestiques in the peloton. He has been with Visma in the last four Tours de France, finishing second, second, first, and first, respectively.

Kuss struggled in the Dauphiné and dropped out of the starting lineup on the final day. Visma announced Tuesday that he had abandoned the race with "mild" COVID-19 symptoms. A week later, he appeared to have recovered enough to run the Tour de France, but his upward trend had stalled in recent days."

Vimalies a Bike's Tour plans were revised several times before the race, as Dylan van Baar and Steven Kruijswijk left the team after suffering broken bones in the Dauphiné. Van Aert had originally planned to skip the Tour this season, but after missing the Giro d'Italia due to injury, he was drafted into the team.

Vingegaard was in doubt about competing after suffering a punctured lung and broken collarbone in a group crash at Ituria-Basque in April, but was finally confirmed last week. However, Kuss' absence is a blow to the team.

Sports director Merijn Zeeman said, "Of course it is very hard for Sepp. His contribution is always very important to the team, but of course he has to be fully fit." Unfortunately, after Kovid we had to conclude today that this is not enough. He now needs to recover properly and therefore will not be a starter. Fortunately, we have a good substitute in Bert Lemmen."