Sepp Kuss wins Giro queen stage, completes Grand Tour trio

American rider Sepp Kuss won a dramatic queen stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, securing a solo victory on the toughest day of the race while his teammate Jonas Vingegaard defended the overall lead. Kuss attacked from a breakaway on the final climb to Alleghe Piani di Pezzè, catching and passing Italian Giulio Ciccone with just over two kilometers remaining to claim the 151-kilometer stage.

The victory completes Kuss’s set of stage wins in all three Grand Tours, adding a Giro triumph to previous successes at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. He finished 13 seconds ahead of Canada’s Derek Gee-West, with Ciccone holding on for third place, 36 seconds back. Felix Gall sprinted to fourth ahead of Vingegaard, who finished fifth in the same time.

The mountainous stage from Feltre to Alleghe featured more than 5,000 meters of climbing across six ascents in the Dolomites, including the Passo Giau, the highest point of this year’s race. A large breakaway formed early, containing several riders threatening the general classification. Ciccone was particularly aggressive, attacking on the descent of the penultimate climb and building a lead of over a minute before the final ascent.