SOUTH AFRICAN MEINTJES LOOKS TO IMPROVE ON EIGHTH-PLACED FINISH IN LAST YEAR’S TOUR DE FRANCE
AE Team Emirates rider Louis Meintjes feels Middle East backing can help his side continue to push for Tour de France glory.
The 25-year-old South African finished eighth last year and second in the young rider’s classification as part of Team Lampre-Merida.
It was his best finish in two attempts after illness curtailed his debut with Team MTNQhubeka in 2015.
After UAE Team Emirates assumed naming-rights of Lampre-Merida in December, the Pretorian is now confident of closing the gap on the likes of Team Sky, who have won four of the past five Yellow Jerseys — one from Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and three from Chris Froome in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
“There’s definitely a bit more backing,” Meintjes told Gulf News by phone from his training camp on the San Pellegrino Pass in Northern Italy earlier this week ahead of his third Tour de France from July 1-23.
“It’s really good everyone can do a little bit more than what we used to do in the past. Previously we never did training camps all together but this year we have spent a lot more time training together making sure everything goes right for the Tour.
“We’re just trying to improve on last year, it’s really hard to say we want to get some specific result because it depends on how well others do, so we’re just going to go there and give it our best shot.
“We’ve all been working really hard together and everyone looks in great shape, so I think we’ll have a strong team.
“The plan last year was to work for a cheeky result and that was the best possible outcome you could say,” he said of finishing eighth overall and second in the young rider’s classification.
Meintjes finished with a flurry to break the top 10 mark grabbing ninth in stage 18 and fourth in stage 19 of Tour de France. The year before he had finished fifth in stage 12 before retirement.
“I’ve got good experience from previous years and that gives me confidence, I’m also feeling quite good after the Criterium de Dauphine,” he added of his eighth-placed finish in last week’s Tour de France warm-up ride.
Mentally tough
“I finished ninth in the Dauphine last year and eighth this year. My legs felt similar to this time last year, so hopefully we can improve on last year in the Tour de France.”
The difference between the eight-stage 1.155-km Dauphine and the 21-stage 3,500-km Tour de France is stark however.
“The Tour de France is almost the same as a normal race it just keeps going longer and there’s more opportunity to make mistakes because it’s spread over such a long time, so it’s the guy that keeps it all together [that wins].
“If you start making mistakes you are definitely going to pay for it, so you have to be mentally tough to make sure you keep doing everything right.
“To win the Tour de France would definitely be one of the best things, I just want to look back on my cycling career and be happy that I tried everything I could, but yes that’s the main goal.
“We can improve this year, we have extra confidence and can expect to get better results but to win it may take another year or two.”
Team Emirates rider