Sepp Kuss looked like he might have the Tour de France queen stage in the bag only for two crashes within a couple of kilometres ending his chances (Photo: Thomas Maheux)
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) went into the final of Saturday's queen stage at the Tour de France battling it out for victory, after proving strongest from the breakaway.
Both riders attacked several times until, eventually, Kuss got clear on the penultimate climb of the day, the Col de Sarenne.
He only pulled out a modest gap on Carapaz, who always looked like he might catch Kuss, but the American still had about 15 seconds when disaster struck.
He was taking chances on the descent of the Sarenne, before the road kicked back up to the finish on Alpe d'Huez, when he misjudged the exit to a tunnel and crashed hard.
The incident was not captured by the TV cameras, though the footage below - shot by a spectator - reveals what happened.
Kuss was able to get back on his bike and still had an advantage over Carapaz. However, just a minute or so after getting going, he crashed again.
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This time Carapaz shot past him, and away to the victory. Kuss was then caught by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and had to be content with 3rd.
Sepp Kuss 🇺🇸 loses Tour de France Stage 20 after two crashes in the lead with stage winner Richard Carapaz close behind. #letour #tdf2026 #stage20 pic.twitter.com/tvmN3UTOvd
— Ellison Lewis (@ellisonlew1s) July 25, 2026
Sepp Kuss crashed twice in the final kilometres. Once in the tunnel and then this crash, which cost him the lead. Richard Carapaz now in front. #TDF2026 https://t.co/cBbfZdpUGj pic.twitter.com/vFyml1bisk
— René Bugner (@RNBWCV) July 25, 2026
