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Stefan Küng is getting closer, but that only makes the near misses sting a little more. At Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, he was one of the main drivers of the race-defining break of eight, but his day still finished in frustration. While Christophe Laporte picked off yet another bouquet for Jumbo-Visma in Waregem, Küng was swept up by the chasing bunch and left with nothing to show for his afternoon’s work.
As he made his way through the mixed zone afterwards, Küng had the look of a man who wanted to be left alone with his annoyance, but his natural affability meant that he stopped to talk reporters through his race all the same. In truth, there was little to say. He was generous with his efforts in the break, others less so, but ultimately, Jumbo-Visma’s might was again unanswerable.
“It was full gas racing, attacks and attacks,” Küng said. “But in the end, not everybody was collaborating 100%. It’s a shame to be caught with 1k to go, but I just didn’t have the legs to follow Christophe. Now it’s time to recover and we’ll be ready for the Ronde.”
The Groupama-FDJ rider had already endured frustration of a different kind at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, a race he had specifically earmarked due to a flat finale that plays to his gifts as a rouleur. The frigid, sodden conditions, however, affected Küng in ways he didn’t anticipate. He felt he had the legs to follow the best on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg, but he never got to test himself against Wout van Aert.
“I don’t really have an explanation, but I lost the feeling in my fingers and my hands,” Küng told Cyclingnews this week. “They were completely numb and when I was at the bottom of the second Kemmel, I wanted to shift, and I must have pushed the wrong button because I really had no feelings anymore. I was just on the 11, standing still there. I never felt this extreme before.
“But I mean, the human body is not a machine. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I really did everything well, I did everything properly, I changed the gloves several times, I ate and drank as I should. But if it just doesn’t work, sometimes there are just days like this.”
Breakthrough
At 29 years of age, Küng has finally reached a point in his career where he can be confident that there will be more good days than bad on the cobbles. Since his amateur days, he has been earmarked as a Classics contender in waiting, but it took time for him to begin translating his…
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