"Sometimes the bullet bites back" - Sepp Kuss broke his front tooth on Tourmalet stage as Tour de France dentist visit looms
CyclingSunday, 12 July 2026 at 12:05
Sepp Kuss is riding the Tour de France with an unusual injury, one that would go unnoticed not for teammates Victor Campenaerts pointing it out and poking fun at the American rider.
Riding stage 6 of the Tour de France, Sepp Kuss rode well in service of Visma | Lease a Bike leader Jonas Vingegaard on the Col du Tourmalet, surviving as his last man before Tadej Pogacar's blazing attack on its iconic slopes.
Although Pogacar rode away to a commanding victory, the Dane proved the strongest of the rest of the field, taking a definitve second place as he held off the group of podium favourites behind on the final climb on Thursday.
Finishing amongst the podium chasers, Kuss didn't sport any crash wounds or signals of any skirmish with the parcours or obstacles, his injury would be revealed on Visma and Campenaerts' viral video blog series the following day.
The front tooth, not totally broken but considerably chipped, was pointed out in the video as Kuss joked that he would be invited to less media interviews in a light-hearted quip.
Visma confirm bottle caused Kuss to damage crown
Later, it was reported that Visma confirmed the tooth was not chipped due to a crash, but rather from a bottle. Kuss had apparently damaged a crown fitted from a previous crash when taking a much-needed sip of water during stage 6.
With the first rest day of the race approaching on Monday, the 2023 Vuelta a Espana winner could find himself on the dentist chair or perhaps wait out the rest of the race before booking an appointment.
Read also
But first, a tricky Sunday stage for Visma as they continue to protect leader Vingegaard ahead of week two. Although the stage has been shortened due to extreme heat warnings in the region, the parcours still packs a mean punch.
Although fancied to form a breakaway battle as the peloton scorches in extreme heat, general classification teams are sure to be on their toes, particularly given the relatively small gaps between many of the podium competitors such as Paul Seixas, Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Yes, Tadej should relinquish the yellow jersey to.... Jonas! And then get it back on the mountain stages, just to prove he can!Lobz7712-07-2026
- Hills, you're right, don't listen to maumau. You can write what ever you want, even the most correct and true comment, maumau will find a new philosophy, known only to him, and he will contradict your thinking. He's doing it to everyone.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales12-07-2026
- The more I hear from people like Wiggins, the more I realise how suspect Team Sky was.
Senna196012-07-2026 - Yes, I did all of that before posting, with a few weather sites (not Google), and already knew that they were riding towards a slightly cooler place, but it still ends up with them riding in the hottest part of the day. Several cyclists have called for earlier starting times in general.Hills3312-07-2026
- Balls. Big balls.bobo12-07-2026
- I know right? Merckx, Indurain….etc… and they won 5 tours! P.s. welcome to CUTD P.p.s. Yes, there’s sarcasm tone.b3tlla12-07-2026
- Kuss can't really sprint, so I'm not sure why you'd be on his wheel. Not sure how that's "getting in the way", but whatever. I never do that, cause I pretty much always sprint.acem8212-07-2026
- i just find it hard to believe that an elite athlete after competing for several years, can improve this far past all other athletes by this much. There is something fishy going on.Spike031112-07-2026
- Such dominance in the TdF, when did we last witness that and can you recall how that turned out?marcopantanivelo12-07-2026
- Except you are thinking statically and not dynamically. Look at the hourly prediction (on a reliable local weather site, not Google or Apple sponsored global populist reports) for Malemort and Ussel and if not enough, one or two points along the way. You’ll understand why the want to skip the start, it gets cooler as the ride progresses even though the day gets hotter everywhere. If the direction had been in reverse, they’d probably have cut off the last 30km (or more). They’re not wasting the cooler part of the day, they’re skipping the hottest part of the race whilst trying to keep the headaches of reorganisation along the way to a minimum.Jumpyjohn12-07-2026
Loading
Write a comment