American cyclist Sepp Kuss narrowly avoids a horrific crash over cliff during Tour de France

Saturday was the penultimate day of the Tour de France, and it almost had what has to be one of the most heart-in-mouth moments the iconic race has seen in years.

And the only reason it didn't was all thanks to a perfectly placed catch fence.

Saturday's Stage 20 took riders along some mountainous roads, and where there are mountains there are often cliffs.

American Sepp Kuss was riding on one of these roads and was actually leading not too far from the end of the stage. He rounded a sweeping corner, but seemed to understeer way too wide and crashed into a low concrete barrier just as the catch fence was ending.

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Fortunately, it was there because on the other side of that barrier was one heck of a drop-off.

Wow. I don't know if they stopped that catch fence there because they just figured no one would ever crash any farther than that or if they just ran out of supplies.

Whatever the reason, Kuss has to be thrilled it was there.

Cycling is not for the faint of heart, and there's a good chance that if he had gone over that wall, it would've been over.

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Sure, Kuss would be breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn't tumbling down the side of the French Alps, but it was a rough day at the office for him.

That was actually his second crash of the day, and it was more costly than the first, seeing as, that time, he was able to hang onto the lead.

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The second crash? Not so much.

He coughed up the lead and wound up finishing the stage in third.

According to Yahoo Sports, it would've been a big win for Kuss had it happened, as it would've been the first stage win for an American since he won a stage back in 2021.