Froome made to sweat

Though he admitted he was not entirely satisfied to repeat his result, South African road cyclist Louis Meintjes (above) was pleased with another top-10 finish at the Tour de France.

Meintjes finished eighth overall for the second year in a row, taking second place in the young riders’ classification as the gruelling race ended on Sunday.

“I think it was a good Tour. We came here with the goal of a solid performance in the GC (general classification) and we tried our best,” Meintjes told the UAE Emirates team website.

“I don’t think eighth place is a bad result but you always want to improve.”

Though he ended 60th on the 21st stage, he completed the 103km final leg between Montgeron and Paris in the main peloton.

The 25-year-old South African, riding for the UAE Emirates outfit, covered the 3 540km contest eight minutes, 20 seconds off the pace of British rider Chris Froome (Sky) who won his fourth title at the Grand Tour event.

Meintjes was 2:06 behind another Brit, Simon Yates (Orica-Scott), who finished seventh to win the race for the white jersey among riders aged 25 and younger.

Meanwhile, Norwegian rider Edvald Boasson Hagen was third in a late sprint on the final stage for SA team Dimension Data.

Boasson Hagen, who won the 19th stage, grabbed third spot in the points classification and Belgian Serge Pauwels was the top Di-Data rider in the general classification, ending 19th overall.