Another blow for Visma: Kuss withdraws sick from Tour of Oman

The warning signs were already there on stage 2, when Kuss unexpectedly lost 14:59 and dropped out of the general classification picture. By Monday, the American was no longer well enough to continue, and the team decided he would not start.

“Sepp is ill, which is why we decided not to let him start,” Visma Head of Racing Grischa Niermann told Wielerflits. “There are a lot of riders in the peloton suffering from stomach and intestinal issues at the moment, and that was also the case with Kuss.”

The disruption has not been limited to Kuss. Visma arrived in Oman with a thinner group than planned after Axel Zingle and Owain Doull were ruled out before the race even began.

“After already losing Axel Zingle and Owain Doull before we had even raced a single kilometre, this unfortunately leaves us with one rider fewer again,” Niermann said.

The news follows an earlier setback last week, when Jonas Vingegaard was forced to remove the UAE Tour from his programme. Over the weekend, however, Visma | Lease a Bike played down concerns about the impact on the rest of his season.

“Of course it sets him back a bit,” Niermann said to Wielerflits. “He is bothered by it because he really wants to race. But not if he is not fit. Jonas has said he really wants to race and win races, but that is the next step.”

The Volta a Catalunya from March 23 to 29, is seen as the most likely point of return, though Niermann was careful not to frame it as a firm commitment. “First and foremost we will look at how quickly he is fully fit again,” he said. “After that we will see what happens next with Jonas.”

Wout van Aert, the team’s other figurehead, has also endured a disrupted build-up after fracturing his ankle in a cyclocross race in Mol at the start of January. Recent updates from Niermann have been more encouraging, however:

“We hope he’ll be on top form later on, but we do expect him to be in top shape for Omloop,” Niermann said. “We can’t say much at this point about the steps he’ll make during the training camp, but he can train as usual right now, and that’s the most important thing.”