Rally Cycling (2016–2017) In Kuss's first stage race with Rally, the
Tour de Beauce in Canada, he won a mountain stage and finished 6th overall. In just two years, Kuss had transitioned from a collegiate mountain biker to the highest level of road cycling. He signed his first WorldTour contract while still a college student—he completed his degree in advertising at UC Boulder in late 2017. Kuss attacked again on stage 5, a difficult queen stage ending at
Snowbird, winning by over 30 seconds, before cementing his victory with another solo attack to win the final stage 6. Kuss finished with 3 stage wins, the
mountains jersey, and the overall victory in what
The Salt Lake Tribune called "the most dominant performance in the history of this event." Following his performance in Utah, Kuss was selected to ride in the
2018 Vuelta a España, his first
Grand Tour. management did not typically select to Grand Tour teams, but they made an exception for Kuss. Kuss rode as a
domestique, leading the peloton in the mountains for team leader
Steven Kruijswijk, who finished the race in fourth overall. Kuss rode in the
2019 Giro d'Italia, supporting
Primož Roglič who finished the race third overall. In August, Kuss returned to the
Vuelta a España. On stage 15, Kuss attacked from the breakaway on the final climb to Puerto del Acebo, riding solo for the final 6 km to claim his first Grand Tour stage win. Kuss also supported Roglič throughout the race, who would go on to win the general classification. The race established Kuss as one of Roglič's key mountain domestiques, a partnership that would continue in many future Grand Tours.
2020–2022: Mountain super-domestique In 2020, Kuss won stage 5 of the
Critérium du Dauphiné, riding away from a group of strong climbers on the final climb in
Megève. Later that month, Kuss was officially selected for his first
Tour de France, as part of a Jumbo-Visma squad that cycling media called a 'super-team' led by Roglič,
Tom Dumoulin, and
Steven Kruijswijk. During the Tour, Kuss established himself as a '
super-domestique', and was widely noted for his ability to assist team leader Roglič in the mountains and stay with the race leaders deep into climbs. Kuss finished the race in 15th overall, the best American debut performance at the Tour since
2013, when
Andrew Talansky finished 10th. Kuss continued to support Roglič in the
2020 Vuelta a España, who won the race for the second consecutive year. In 2021, Kuss again rode the
Tour de France. On stage 15, Kuss broke away from a group of 20 riders with 5 km to go on the
Col de Beixalis, the stage's final climb. Kuss maintained his lead for the 15 km that followed the summit, winning the stage 23 seconds ahead of
Alejandro Valverde. It was the first Tour de France stage win by an American since
Tyler Farrar won stage 3 in
2011. Kuss, who lives in Andorra, said after the stage that he knew the climb well from training, and had been particularly motivated to win so close to home. During the
2021 Vuelta a España Kuss and his teammates rode in support of Roglič, who was aiming to win his third consecutive Vuelta title. Kuss started the race well, holding the
King of the Mountains jersey for the first two stages. On the decisive stage 17 to
Lagos de Covadonga, where Roglič won the stage and took the overall lead, Kuss showed his own climbing strength by winning the sprint for second place and denying bonus seconds to Roglič's rivals. Roglič went on to win the race, while Kuss finished eighth overall, his first top 10 in a
Grand Tour. As a warmup for the
2022 Tour de France, Jumbo-Visma sent their primary favorites Roglič and
Jonas Vingegaard to the
Critérium du Dauphiné, while Kuss was given team leadership and the opportunity to target the overall win at the
Tour de Suisse. Kuss was in contention, sitting 10 seconds back from the lead after stage 4, but prior to stage 5 the entire team withdrew from the race due to a
COVID-19 infection. During the Tour, Kuss rode in support of Roglič and Vingegaard as the team sought to challenge two-time defending champion
Tadej Pogačar. After Roglič and key mountain domestique
Steven Kruijswijk both crashed out of the race, the burden of defending Vingegaard in the high mountains fell primarily on Kuss. On stage 17, Kuss led Vingegaard up the final climb to
Hautacam, passing Vingegaard off to teammate
Wout van Aert before Vingegaard attacked to win the stage and secure his overall lead. Vingegaard held both the
yellow and
polka dot jerseys to the end of the race, with Jumbo-Visma also winning the
points classification with Van Aert.
2023–present: Grand Tour champion at the
2023 Giro d'Italia Kuss started the 2023 season at the
UAE Tour, where he finished 5th overall. Following an injury to teammate
Wilco Kelderman, Kuss was selected as his replacement for the
Giro d'Italia, changing plans with less than a month before the race. At the Giro, Kuss rode in support of Roglič, who won the general classification. Kuss was widely credited as Roglič's top domestique, particularly for his role on stage 16, where Roglič was distanced by
João Almeida and
Geraint Thomas. Kuss's pace-making helped limit the gap, a performance one cycling journalist described as helping to "save the Giro for his leader." at the
2023 Tour de France In July, Kuss rode in the
Tour de France, this time helping Vingegaard win a second consecutive title. This marked the sixth time Kuss had supported his team leader to a Grand Tour victory. Despite crashing hard on the penultimate stage, Kuss finished in 12th overall, his best result at the Tour. In August, Kuss was named to the startlist of the
Vuelta a España, his third Grand Tour of the year, riding alongside both Roglič and Vingegaard as attempted to become the first team to sweep the Grand Tours in a single season. At the Vuelta, Kuss's team took a disappointing 11th place in the opening stage time trial, which featured rain and multiple teams crashing. On stage 6, Kuss won by 26 seconds after attacking from a large breakaway group and riding solo for the final 2.5 km. The victory moved him into second in the general classification, eight seconds behind breakaway companion
Lenny Martinez. Two days later, Kuss finished a minute ahead of Martinez on the difficult final climb to
Xorret de Catí, moving into the lead of the race. On stage 13, Kuss's teammate Vingegaard won the stage, with Kuss taking second and Roglič third; this placed the Jumbo-Visma team in the top 3 positions of the general classification. Despite losing time to his teammates, notably being dropped by both on stage 17 to
Alto de L'Angliru, Kuss successfully defended his lead for the remainder of the race. After his win, Kuss was celebrated for multiple milestones: he became the first cyclist to ride all three Grand Tours and win one in the same season since
Gastone Nencini in 1957, the fourth American to win a Grand Tour, and the first American since
Chris Horner in 2013. His win also completed Jumbo-Visma's historic sweep of the Grand Tours, the first team to do so in a single season, along with sweeping the Vuelta podium—an achievement
The Guardian described as "unprecedented dominance." Following the Vuelta, the fitness-tracking app
Strava announced Kuss had set 808
KOMsa virtual trophy for the fastest time on a segmentacross the year, the most of any professional athlete. In total, Kuss' logged activities on the app covered and of elevation gain. Despite the interruption to his preparation, Kuss won his next race, the
Vuelta a Burgos. He took the race lead on stage 3, winning on the mountain-top finish, then defending to take the overall win by 5 seconds over
Max Poole. Kuss started the
2024 Vuelta a España, but was unable to defend his title and finished the race in 14th place. At the start of the 2025 season, Kuss and his team announced that he would be returning to his "super-domestique role" rather than taking a leadership role during stage races. Kuss cited pressure and lack of results during the 2024 season as reasons for the shift. Kuss rode in the
Tour de France, and was active in breakaways as well as pacing for team leader Vingegaard, who finished second overall. ==Personal life==