![\"ccs-62657-0-86864300-1469612803.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-86864300-1469612803.jpg\")
<\/a>Louis Meintjes made South African cycling history when he became the highest South African finisher in the General Classification (GC) at this year\u2019s Tour de France. Photo Credit: Louis Meintjes Facebook \/ \u00a9bettiniphoto.net<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cFinally when I arrived at the Dauphine and the Tour de France there were no problems and I was able to deliver a good race and a good result and I\u2019m really happy about that,\u201d he said from his high-altitude training camp. \u201cJoining Team Lampre was an exciting experience \u2013 I\u2019m really comfortable in the team and they really went out of their way to make sure that I integrated into the team well.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being forced to withdraw from last year\u2019s Tour due to an illness, Meintjes had unfinished business. \u201cIt was always the plan to prepare for Tour de France this year and to try and go for a GC result. It was really nice that it all came together at the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
His new team has been supportive of his goals this season. \u201cWe were hoping for a top 10 and to compete for the White Jersey so it was nice that that goal was achieved,\u201d said Meintjes. \u201cThe result could\u2019ve been a bit better but eighth place is something that I can be very happy with. It was a real team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the goal in mind and his full focus placed on the task ahead, Meintjes only really knew that a top 10 was possible during the final week of the three-week tour. \u201cThe Tour de France is really unpredictable and it depends a lot on how the other riders ride. It was really hard to say, even in the first week, that a top 10 was possible. My legs felt good and everything was going well. Only in the last week did I realise that it was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a momentous achievement behind him, the Rustenberg local only has two weeks to prepare for another major milestone in his life \u2013 to represent his country at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. \u201cMy motivation is really high \u2013 it is such an honour to go and I am really happy to be selected. I\u2019m currently at altitude training and preparing and hopefully everything goes well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t had the chance to ride the Olympic route, but preparations have been really good and the Tour has been perfect preparation for the Olympics and it gave me some confidence. We don’t often have the chance to race as a national team so it\u2019s going to be different to other races and very unpredictable. I definitely want to go there and show that South Africa is in the race and making the race; I want to be up there and show the South African flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to the impression that the South Africans left on this year\u2019s 103rd edition, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka\u2019s victories in the first week will long be remembered. With four stage wins in the first seven days of racing, five stage wins overall \u2013 four from Mark Cavendish (GBR) and one from Stephen Cummings (GBR) \u2013 and multiple top-10 finishes throughout the Tour, a yellow jersey and green jersey, Douglas Ryder\u2019s \u201cAfrican Team\u201d once again rode their way into the hearts of many a supporter. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg rode impressively throughout and finished the final day in Paris with a 10th place.<\/p>\n
Orica-BikeExchange\u2019s Daryl Impey delivered a solid result on Stage 7 when he summited the Lac de Payolle in second place behind Cummings, a phenomenal achievement for the sprinter; and his support throughout the race to his team, particularly in Stage 10 when he led teammate Michael Matthews (AUS) to victory in a commanding breakaway, was incredible to watch.<\/p>\n
Meintjes and Impey will compete in the Men\u2019s Road Race at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games at Fort Copacabana on Saturday 6 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Louis Meintjes made South African cycling history when he became the highest South African finisher in the General Classification (GC) at this year\u2019s Tour de France. The Lampre Merida rider finished the gruelling 21-day Tour in eighth place on the GC and was the second highest finisher in the Young Rider\u2019s (White Jersey) Classification. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[397,232],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-louis-meintjes","tag-tour-de-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17822"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}