Vuelta a España pro bike: Sepp Kuss' Cervélo R5 climbing bike

Kuss’ hopes of winning the Vuelta a España lie in the mountains where the American will team up with Cervélo’s R5 climbing bike

09:00, Friday 8th September 2023

Sepp Kuss' Cervélo R5

Jumbo-Visma
- Nationality Netherlands
- Founded 1984
- Team Principal Richard Plugge
- UCI Code TJV
- Bike Sponsor Cervélo
Sepp Kuss
- Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
- Nationality United States of America
- Age 29
- UCI Wins 10
- Height 1.8m
Vuelta a España
- Dates 26 Aug - 17 Sept
- Race Length 3,133 kms
- Race Category Elite Men
Cervélo
Cervélo is a bike manufacturer based in California, USA. The company produces bikes for road, track, triathlon and off-road, all with a strong focus on innovation.
Wahoo
Wahoo is a fitness technology company based in Atlanta, USA. Wahoo produces a range of cycling technology products, from cycling computers and smart watches to indoor trainers, pedals and other accessories.
SRAM
SRAM is a components manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. The company mainly produces drivetrains, for a wide variety of disciplines, alongside many other components. SRAM’s has acquired other brands within the industry such as Zipp, RockShox and Quarq.

It’s hard to remember the last Grand Tour that didn’t feature Sepp Kuss. Having already ticked off the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, the Jumbo-Visma rider took to the start line at the Vuelta a España to complete a Grand Tour clean sweep for the season. Going further back he’s started the last five Grand Tours, starting out at the 2022 Tour de France.

All of those were carried out in the role of domestique extraordinaire; the best mountain domestique in the business. That’s now all changed at the Vuelta where Kuss finds himself at the head of an unexpected general classification tilt.

Sepp Kuss in contention after Vuelta stage 6

Things weren’t expected to pan out this way. Jumbo-Visma started the race with the winners of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in its ranks, Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard respectively, hoping to claim an unprecedented lockdown of Grand Tour titles in a calendar year.

That target is still possible, except Kuss has emerged as an unlikely candidate to take the third of those crowns. Not unlikely in terms of ability, but in the American’s previous admissions that he doesn’t care much for team leadership. Stage 6 changed that when the 28-year-old infiltrated the day’s breakaway before riding away from his companions to triumph on the day.

More importantly, he claimed a chunk of time over the main GC favourites, leaving him with a nearly three-minute buffer over Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), the main threat to and target of Jumbo-Visma’s now three-pronged attack.

Kuss has become a GC contender at the Vuelta a España

There were fears that the lead would dissipate on the second and final time trial of the race on stage 10, but Kuss emerged intact, still over a minute clear of Evenepoel. Now the race enters Kuss’ prime terrain, the mountains, where he could potentially hold on for an unlikely victory.

Forming a key part of this effort over the second half of the race, Kuss will be relying on Cervélo’s R5 climbing bike. Many brands have changed tact in recent years, opting to only create one superbike instead of having dedicated aero and climbing bikes. Cervélo hasn’t followed this path, and riders get to choose between the aero S5 or lightweight R5.

The lightweight frame of the Cervélo R5

Lightweight bike frame

As is to be expected, Kuss’ R5 is light, a little above the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit at 6.9kg. It doesn’t feature the same deep aero tubes as the S5, instead keeping things more traditional - bigger tubes equal more weight, something a climbing bike needs to avoid.

Complementing the frame, all of the bike's components have been carefully picked to create a climber-friendly build, starting with the gearing. Giving plenty of options for the climbs, Kuss’ bike has the SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset with a 52/39t chainset and a 10-33 cassette.

Kuss had a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset with a 52/39t drivetrain

The wheels are Reserve’s 40|44 option, with rim depths to match the name. These are on the shallower side, as is to be expected on a climbing bike - like with the frame, less material equals less weight. We interestingly saw the same wheels on Roglič’s Cervélo S5, a surprisingly shallow choice for an aero bike, especially as Reserve has deeper wheelsets available.

Those wheels are paired with Vittoria Corsa Pro tubeless tyres in a now predictable 28mm width. Some teams still run narrower tyres, but 28mm is by far the most popular choice at this point.

The Reserve 40|44 wheels are fairly shallow

While all focus will be on the climbing, descending can make a big difference in modern cycling, leading to big gaps. To maximise performance on descents, most riders, including Kuss, run a larger 160mm rotor on the front where a higher concentration of braking power is required, with a smaller 140mm rotor on the back.

Overall, there are no surprises on Kuss’ bike, with FSA components making up a lot of the finishing kit, including K-Force handlebars and a SL-K 120mm stem.