New footage shows Sepp Kuss' near miss in Alpe d'Huez crash

The Visma | Lease a Bike rider crashed twice after attacking to distance Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek). Kuss was able to continue and eventually finished third.

Footage captured by an amateur cyclist at the scene of his second crash shows the outside of the corner where Kuss lost control. Beyond the roadside barrier is a narrow concrete ledge, followed by a steep ravine that drops for dozens of metres across rocks and vegetation.

Kuss was brought to a stop by a section of safety netting beside the road. Less than a metre farther along the descent, however, there was no equivalent protection.

The American had crossed the summit of the Col de Sarenne with a narrow advantage over Carapaz and was pushing to preserve his lead. He had already crashed shortly after emerging from a tunnel before later misjudging the corner captured in the footage.

“I was definitely not so clearheaded,” Kuss said after the stage. “It was a big effort over the Col de Sarenne. I was trying to keep my gap over Richard Carapaz, and I was trying to get the most out of every corner.”

Kuss acknowledged that his determination to stay ahead contributed to the mistakes.

“I misjudged a corner,” he said. “I was in a bit too much of a hurry and then I made a mistake on another corner.”

In the immediate aftermath, Kuss played down the danger of the second crash.

“For me it wasn’t too scary,” he said. “I thought I saw the line of the corner. Fortunately, there was some netting there, so I didn’t hurt myself.”