When he was old, Andrea Carrea, who everyone called Sandrino and who had a strange nose, loved to remember that day: he had gone on the run, Fausto had controlled the group and upon arrival in Lausanne Sandrino found himself wearing the yellow jersey. It was July 3, 1952. The next day we arrived at Alpe d’Huez: Coppi attacked and took the shirt off his faithful wingman and took her to the Parc des Princes. Sandrino often talked about it and said that at night he often dreamed of Fausto who reminded him of that day, that shirt. He was a friendly, smiling ghost and with that gesture he had ensured eternal gratitude. When he told the story, Sandrino squeezed out a few sincere tears.
Seventy years later, Sepp Kuss’ red jersey didn’t last just one day: with that he reached Madrid. If it’s a fairy tale, it can start with “there was a Vuelta”. But it’s not a fairy tale, it’s pure news and it’s a beautiful story, the story of the domestique who won a grand tour, helped by the captains he served: Danish Jonas Vingegaard and Slovenian Primoz Roglic, those who won the Tour and the Giro.
“It’s nice to reciprocate the work he did for me,” says Vingegaard, captain, with Roglic, of Jumbo Visma, the Dutch team that chose the Vespa colors and which this year has achieved a mountain of successes.
Sepp Kuss (translation from German: Beppe Bacio) He’s from Durango, Colorado, he turned 29 four days ago and he’s a pacesetter like few others. The word wingman is going out of fashion: Sepp is a lieutenant, an aide-de-camp, a sword-bearer, someone to rely on with his eyes closed. At the Tour he was exceptional, weakening the others, paving the way for the attacks of the small, thin-lipped Vingegaard, who comes from a country without mountains and spares no one on climbs.
On Wednesday, on the day of the terrible Angliru, it seemed that Sepp’s fate was written: Vingegaard lets Roglic win, Kuss struggles behind and save the shirt for 8 seconds. The next day, Thursday, we reach altitude again, at Cruz de Linares and the world turns upside down: the captains become helpers and in the end they get back up. Vingegaard takes a few seconds back. Kuss is in the red, with 17″ on the Dane and one minute on Roglic. The team’s success is as big as that Jumbo that is written on the shirt: first, second and third.
Sepp went fast, as usual, and found two who organized a “combine”. To his advantage. Those who know that world say that the story is not that exemplary or moving. Vingegaard and Roglic don’t like each other and someone from the command bridge may have suggested this solution. The images of yesterday’s arrival give little oxygen to this theory. Today stop in Poels on Evenepoel, tomorrow final fiesta in the streets of Madrid. Then Sepp will be able to go back to his usual job, the man who sets the pace and breaks up the group, until it becomes an increasingly smaller squad before one of his captains moves forward.
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