Tour de France cyclist nearly falls off cliff edge after narrowly avoiding major crash

Tour de France cyclist Sepp Kuss nearly fell off a cliff edge as he narrowly avoided a major crash.

The American was leading Stage 20 on Saturday before two mistakes saw him looming over a near-fatal drop.

As Kuss came around a corner towards the end of the Alpe d'Huez, he took his line too wide, colliding with barriers on the edge of the road.

Only a safety net and the brickwork stopped him from heading down the cliff edge.

Kuss put his left foot on the floor and went sliding across the barrier, with very little between him and a major fall.

Fortunately for the American, he regained his balance before hopping back on his bike.

TNT Sports pundit Matt Stephens said the incident was "a life-or-death moment".

Kuss was then overtaken by Richard Carapaz, who went on to win Stage 20.

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The American had fallen earlier in the race in a tunnel before the almost fatal mistake.

Speaking afterwards, Kuss said: "It was a bit scary, sorry to my wife and my family watching at home. That's racing.

"I'm happy with the fight and the performance, and it was a big day out.

"I was so on the limit, I misjudged the corner a bit. First in the tunnel, and then after that I was still trying to make up too much time."

He continued: "I was more just annoyed because we actually drove down it this morning.

"I was looking at it and thinking: 'That's a decent corner, no problem.'

"In the race I took it pretty full on. It was a bit more of a corner than I expected.

"My wife is not going to be too happy. She always tells me not to take any risks on the downhill. You have to have a little adrenaline every once in a while."

The American did go on to win the most combative rider of the day.

However, he was soon given a one-minute time penalty, had 75 UCI points deducted, and was fined 1,500 Swiss francs (£1,380) for two littering offences.

Kuss got rid of his rubbish outside of the designated zones, which led to the punishments.

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