Robert Gesink devastated to see close friend Kuss crash twice: 'I understand what my mother has been saying all these years'

It was a thrilling finale in the queen stage of the Tour de France. Sepp Kuss and Richard Carapaz fought out a fierce battle, but the contest ended in disappointment after the American rider from Visma | Lease a Bike crashed twice in quick succession. As a result, he missed out on the stage victory. Robert Gesink was devastated: he watched his former teammate and friend fall.

Kuss and Carapaz had already battled it out on Alpe d'Huez the day before, and in the 20th stage, it happened again. Kuss accelerated; Carapaz fell behind but caught up later. The second surge seemed to be too much for the Ecuadorian, but he’s as tough as they come. It turned into a spectacular show, and Gesink watched with bated breath. “I could have used a dry shirt,” he laughs on the NOS Cycling Podcast.

"I wanted to push those seconds up to thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. It ended up being twenty, but then that image popped into my head." Kuss first fell into a tunnel, only to nearly plunge into a ravine barely a minute later. He was saved by a low wall and a safety net. “Everyone saw it at home—it makes your heart skip a beat. But when you know someone personally… It’s the worst moment of the Tour for me, at any rate.”

As a former professional cyclist, the Varsseveld native knows that things usually turn out fine. But his heart was in his throat. “My mom always said, ‘When the descent comes, I’ll step away for a moment—I’ll go to the kitchen or tidy up a bit.’ I’d always say, “But Mom, I’ve got this under control, right?” But now I understand what she’s been saying all these years. When you see someone you know so well, it’s just really nerve-wracking to watch.”

In the first crash, Kuss still held a slight lead over the polka-dot jersey wearer, but a crash later, it was all over. Carapaz overtook him and began the final uphill kilometers with a slight lead. There, the American climber fought with everything he had, but it was to no avail. Carapaz claimed his second stage victory of this Tour.

Gesink mourned the loss of his buddy, but was also able to enjoy the moment. “What’s really great is that we saw a real battle. We got to sweat it out and endure the anxiety. The day before, it was the big Pogacar show, and this morning everyone on Alpe d’Huez was already saying: we kind of know how it’s going to end. Yet we finally got to see a battle between two top riders, two true champions.”

Behind them, the general classification contenders were battling it out. The gaps were fairly large across the board, but the fight for the podium was still wide open. Isaac Del Toro battled Paul Seixas for third place. The Mexican got help from yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar, who helped him break away from his French rival—even though he was struggling a bit on the Col du Galibier.

Gesink saw Del Toro’s maturity, and that of his team, as the deciding factor. “It’s a mental game. That third week takes its toll on your legs; your body is tired. Even when things aren’t going well, you have to stay mentally strong and keep fighting. When you’re young, you don’t have that experience of thinking, ‘I got through this a few years ago, too.’ That makes it all the more impressive that he managed to pull it off."