Kuss denied Alpe d'Huez glory after crashing twice on descent of Col de Sarenne
Sepp Kuss endured frustration on stage 20 of the Tour de France when he crashed twice on the descent of the Col de Sarenne while he was at the head of the race and closing in on victory at Alpe d’Huez.
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The American had been part of the day’s early break over the Col de Croix de Fer and the Col du Galibier, and he pressed clear alone near the summit of the Sarenne.
Kuss held a narrow lead over Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) at the summit, but he was caught and passed by the Ecuadorian following his crash. He would finish third on the stage, 31 seconds behind Carapaz, after he was passed by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull) in the final kilometre.
“I was definitely not so clearheaded, it was a big effort over the Col de Sarenne,” Kuss told France Télévisions afterwards. “I was trying to keep my gap over Richard Carapaz, and I was trying to get the most out of every corner. I misjudged a corner. I was in a bit too much of a hurry and then I made a mistake on another corner.”
The Visma | Lease a Bike rider was immediately back on his back after each crash, but he was unable to close the gap to Carapaz, who took his second stage win in three days.
“For me it wasn’t too scary,” Kuss said. “I thought I saw the line of the corner. Fortunately, there was some netting there, so I didn’t hurt myself.”
Kuss won a stage at the Tour in Andorra in 2021 and he completed a full set of Grand Tour stage wins at the Giro d’Italia in May when he soloed to victory at Piani di Pezzè.
He lined up for the Tour in support of Jonas Vingegaard’s overall aspirations, but Visma were left without a leader for the final week when the Dane crash out of the race on stage 15. Kuss was an aggressive presence in the Alps as he looked to salvage a stage win for Visma, but the team looks set to end the Tour without success.
“It would have been nice to end the Tour on a high note, but I can still finish the Tour satisfied with the spirit we showed,” Kuss said. “It had its ups and downs but we fought all the way through.”
Result: Tour de France stage 20
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