Kuss withdrew the penultimate day there with mild Covid symptoms. After a week, he seemed to have recovered enough to ride the Tour de France, but in recent days that upward trend stagnated. 

Sporting director Merijn Zeeman: "This is of course very hard for Sepp in the first place. His contribution is always very important in the team, but then of course he has to be completely fit. Unfortunately, we had to conclude together today that this is insufficiently the case, after Covid. He now needs to recover properly and will therefore not start. Fortunately, we have a good replacement ready with Bart Lemmen."

28-year-old Bart Lemmen has been part of Team Visma | Lease a Bike since January, having only been a professional cyclist for one year. He developed rapidly with top five and top 10 finishes in the Tour Down Under and UAE Tour. Most recently, Lemmen finished second in the overall classification of the Tour of Norway. 

Zeeman: "Despite only being a professional for 1.5 years, Bart is already proving to be a very reliable and strong rider. He learns quickly and proved it this year with several good classifications. He is a good climber, and he willingly sacrifices himself for his leader Jonas Vingegaard. I have a lot of confidence in Bart."