News from the Visma-Lease a Bike camp ahead of Saturday’s Italian start of the 111th Tour de France is that American Sepp Kuss, Vuelta a España champion, will not race the Tour due to COVID-19. He is replaced in the lineup by Dutchman Bart Lemmen.
TDF line-up change 🔁
Sepp Kuss has not recovered sufficiently from Covid and will not start in @LeTour. Bart Lemmen is his replacement.
Get well soon, Sepp! 🍀 pic.twitter.com/JXFEe73nSw
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) June 25, 2024
Kuss finished all three Grand Tours last year and has also completed the last four Tours de France.
The American’s first WorldTour stage race of 2024 was promising, with 13th in the Volta a Catalunya before 41st in Itzulia Basque Country and did not start the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné where he was 38th.
It has been a difficult year for Visma-LAB, who memorably swept the 2023 Grand Tours and last year’s Vuelta podium. The Dutch Bees come limping into the Tour with Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, and Christophe Laporte all coming off injuries.
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