The Olympic Games are over, the home World Championships are coming up. But first Stefan Küng wants to deliver at his premiere at the Vuelta. His participation in the Grand Tour was not planned this way.
16.08.2024, 05:30
SDA
When professional cyclists prepare for the new season in the winter months, meticulous planning of their racing commitments is part of the process. Personal interests are weighed up against those of the team and cornerstones are set so that recovery phases and training blocks can be built in accordingly. So far, so good.
However, injuries due to crashes or illness during the year can quickly lead to a plan having to be thrown overboard. Although Stefan Küng has not completely revised his racing calendar, the health problems that have accompanied him over the last two and a half months have made him think. And the man from Thurgau came to the conclusion that he wanted to break new ground at the age of 30. "I approached the team with the idea of taking part in the Vuelta and we found each other pretty quickly," he explains in an interview with Keystone-SDA.
As in other years, the alternatives would have been to take part in the Benelux Tour, the Bretagne Classic and the European Championships. But Küng felt the need for a change, even if he has no particular connection to the Tour of Spain. "I'll be honest, the Vuelta appealed to me the least of the big tours."
No preparation race
Küng already has eleven Grands Tours under his belt. He is a regular at the Tour de France and has also taken part in the Giro d'Italia three times. Now he is breaking new ground at the Vuelta.
The plan is clear: to get in shape in Spain in order to be optimally prepared for the World Championships in Zurich in the last week of September, right? Küng says no. "I'm in good shape." There are also no plans to pull out of the three-week tour early. "I want to discover something new with the intention of succeeding."
The declared goal is a stage win. The time trial specialist has a good opportunity to do so right at the start. The 79th edition of the Vuelta a España begins on Saturday in Lisbon with a 12 km battle against the clock. The course is not technically demanding, but Küng's intention is clear: "The goal is to win, even if the competition is strong."
With the Belgian Wout van Aert, the Brit Joshua Tarling, the American Brandon McNulty and the Portuguese Nelson Oliveira, there are four specialists at the start who completed the Olympic time trial in Paris faster than Küng, who finished eighth.
Cancellara last Swiss rider in red
If he becomes only the third Swiss rider this millennium after Alex Zülle (2000) and Fabian Cancellara (2009) to wear the red leader's jersey at the Vuelta, it would certainly be a major coup.
Mauro Schmid, the second Swiss starter, is already a little ahead of Küng. The six years younger rider from Zurich is also tackling the Vuelta for the first time after two Giro participations, but he already has a Grand Tour victory to his name. As a neo-pro, Schmid triumphed for the first time in 2021 in the 11th stage of the Giro.
"Can't blame myself for anything"
Everything has to come together for such an exploit, as Küng knows only too well after the complicated last few weeks. It all started with bronchitis in the run-up to the Tour de Suisse, and recently he was also plagued by stomach problems. "The summer certainly went differently than planned. I always had the feeling that I wasn't able to perform to my full potential."
Instead of winning a medal at the Olympic Games in Paris, the man from eastern Switzerland had to settle for two diploma places. "I can't blame myself. I've always said that I want to perform at my best on day X. More was not possible under the given circumstances."
But now the health problems finally seem to have been overcome. "I'm feeling better than I have for a long time," says the Swiss time trial champion happily three days before the start of the Vuelta. The late summer and fall will show what a healthy Stefan Küng is still capable of.
