A year is a long time in cycling, and 12 months ago, after dominating the podium at the Vuelta a España and this season's Grand Tour, Sepp Kuss of the Jumbo-Visma team rode into Madrid in the red jersey. On Sunday evening, Kuss finished the race in 14th place overall, more than 20 minutes behind former teammate Primoš Roglic.

Roglic's victory, now with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, was the last time the Slovenian has dominated a Grand Tour this season after Tadej Pogachar's victories in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

It was a more sobering season for the Cus team, reborn as Visma Lease-a-Bike, as bad luck was a constant throughout the year. Jonas Vingegaard finished second in the Tour after a crash in Ituria, Basque Country, and Wout Van Aert suffered season-defining crashes in the Doire de Flanderen and Vuelta.

Couss also suffered bad luck, missing the Tour de France in June after contracting COVID-19, and although he won his return race at the Vuelta a Burgos in August, Couss was unable to go toe-to-toe with Roglic and others in the Vuelta. His title defense, already flagged early on, was essentially over by the time the race reached Asturias at the end of the second week.

With the tough terrain in the final stages of the race, Cus was hoping for stage wins on the Alto del Moncalvillo and the Picon Blanco, but instead saw his ranking drop even further. Such was the race. [After the time trial in Madrid on Sunday night, Kuss said, “I'm glad it's over. I really suffered the last two days. I'm glad it's over. But I learned a lot from this race. It was a hard race.”

Analyzing a disappointing Grand Tour is never easy. Especially in the middle of a noisy finish area, right after the last of the 3,265-km race. There will be time for a full report in the coming weeks, but on Sunday evening, Kuss was reluctant to attribute the summer interrupted by illness.

“It's hard to say. But I am very happy with my performance on many stages. But the level was very high. I have no excuses. But in the end, everyone has hurdles, problems, and excuses. I just have to be better next time.

Last year's Vuelta victory was all the more remarkable because Cus was a key supporter of Roglic in the Giro and Vingegaard in the Tour; throughout August and September, Cus seemed to be building up a deep endurance rather than feeling worn out. This Vuelta was his first Grand Tour of the year, and he felt short in several departments.

“I noticed that I lacked a little bit of race fitness in this race, something you can only get in a race or a Grand Tour,” he said. But running three Grand Tours is not something you can continue to do every year.” For me, missing the Tour was hard, but missing the Tour was also hard in terms of preparing for the Vuelta.”

During the Vuelta, Van Aat, who finished the classics prematurely with a broken collarbone, made a comeback on Spanish roads, and Visma-Ries-A-Bike was destined to secure a podium finish in Madrid.

Van Aert, a Belgian rider, won three stages and was first in both points and mountains at the start of the third week. However, a crash on the descent of the Colada Lomena on stage 16 and a deep knee injury ended Van Aert's race and season.

“We were really on a roll with Wout winning three stages, and he was going for the mountains jersey, which was a whole other goal. To be honest, it was really hard for all of us when he crashed and had to abandon the race. It was really hard to readjust after that.”