Sepp Kuss turned the Giro d'Italia queen stage into a milestone of his own on 28 May 2026, catching Giulio Ciccone on the final climb and riding away to his first stage win in the race. With that finish, the American completed a rare sweep of stage victories in all three Grand Tours.
That is why his name is being searched now. Kuss was not just winning a mountain stage in the Dolomites; he was joining the small group of riders who have taken stages in the Tour, the Vuelta and the Giro. Visma-Lease a Bike also logged its fifth stage win of the race, adding another result to a campaign that had already seen Jonas Vingegaard collect four stages before Kuss got his turn.
The decisive move came on the final 5-kilometer climb, where the classification battle finally snapped into place after a long day of breakaway riding and little action among the overall contenders. Kuss had gone up the road early, and when Ciccone attacked after losing mountain points to Einer Rubio, the Italian’s move briefly looked like the right answer. But it also left him exposed when Kuss bridged across and then passed him before the line. Derek Gee-West finished about 15 seconds behind the winner, close enough to underline how hard the stage was, but not close enough to deny Kuss the result.
The stage did more than crown a winner. Thymen Arensman dropped third place in the general classification to Jai Hindley, while Felix Gall moved into a stronger second place. For Kuss, the ride carried a second meaning beyond the day’s standings: he has now won stages in every Grand Tour, a career mark that few riders ever reach and one that fits the kind of climbing he has built his reputation on.
Even so, the bigger overall race was still only partly settled. Jonas Vingegaard came through comfortably and was never in trouble, which left the GC picture intact at the front even as the podium fight shifted behind Kuss. The queen stage gave Visma-Lease a Bike another victory and gave Kuss his place in Grand Tour history, but the final classification after this mountain day still leaves the last word to the remaining stages.
