Louis Meintjes
MTN-Qhubeka’s South African, who won his national championship aged 21, is dreaming big
It’s impressive to be national champion so young. How stiff was the competition?
Louis was part of a three-man selection, along with Daryl Impey (Orica- GreenEdge) and his trade team-mate Jay Thomson, that broke clear from the nine-man break with 6km remaining. He and Thomson worked together, with the latter making the move and Meintjes following Impey. A renowned fast finisher, Impey was the firm favourite but had problems with his chain in the sprint and Meintjes didn’t need a second invitation to capitalise. As he says, “It would have been nice to win another way but cycling is about crossing the line first.”
Has he shown himself yet on an international level?
He’s still awaiting his first win as a pro in Europe but that’s no easy feat for a second year pro.
With MTN- Qhubeka Meintjes will get the opportunities bigger teams couldn’t afford him
He’s had success in Africa and Asia, just missed out on a top-10 overall at this season’s Tour de Langkawi and was runner-up behind diarist Matej Mohoric at the 2013 U23 Worlds Road Race. If you keep banging on the door loudly enough, eventually it’s going to open.
What he says:
Procycling “It’s hard if you’re a rider in South Africa starting out. It’s pretty hard to be a junior rider and you say you want to be professional, because there’s no clear pathway to do it. I don’t know if I’m the best rider or if I’m the one that deserves it the most but I got the opportunity and I took it and did something with it.”
What they say: Doug Ryder, MTN-Qhubeka team manager
“We identified Louis as a major talent a few years ago and I’ve always admired his work ethic. As a team we believe he’s a major star for the future. He is an incredible climber and time triallist so we see him winning stage races in the near future. He is still U23 this year so has a long career ahead. With the opportunities our team gives him he will soon be standing on the podiums and wearing leaders’ jerseys.”