6 Things You Need To Know About Louis Meintjes

What he likes, what he loves and how he may creep up the TdF rankings even further.


Bicycling |

What he likes, what he loves and how he may creep up the TdF rankings even further.

Vuelta al Pais Vasco 2017 - 5th stage Bilbao - Eibar 139,8 km - 07/04/2017 - Louis Meintjes (RSA - UAE Team Emirates) - photo Luis Angel Gomez/BettiniPhoto©2017

Louis Meintjes is once again sitting pretty in the top 10 of the Tour de France GC. The Pretoria-born UAE Team Emirates rider is also second in the White Jersey standing, 2m38s behind Orica-Scott’s Simon Yates. In light of his good form, here are six facts about Meintjes to help you understand why he is as good as he is and why he will go further at this Tour, and Tours to come.

He looks up to Chris Froome

He has never had many heroes in cycling, but does look up to Chris Froome. He admires the fact that Froome was a down-to-earth guy who worked hard to make it in cycling… and that it paid off for him in the long run.

He’s Only Been Cycling For Nine Years

Meintjes got into cycling after doing his first road race as a 16 year old. He took to cycling like a duck to water, and owes a lot of that to his small stature (he stands at 1.7m tall). He does admit that it’s difficult to maintain race weight though.

He loves to eat

And this is one of the reason he loves the Tour de France, and any grand tour for that matter. Because he’s making up for a calorie deficit most days he can eat as much as he likes, which allows him to sample some of the local dishes at the race towns he visits.

He has won three white Jerseys before

Twice at the Giro del Trentino, and once at the Tour Of Oman. Significantly, he beat racers who are currently sitting above him in Tour de France GC, including the guy in yellow at the moment (Fabio Aru).

He has battled the Yates brothers for TDF white before

In 2016, Meintjes finished second behind Adam Yates. This year he goes head-to-head against Adam’s twin brother, Simon Yates. At the moment he is roughly the same amount of time back as he was at the end of the 2016 edition.

He loves steep climbs

He loves climbing in general, but has a special place in his heart for the steep one’s, saying that he normally performs “better on the steeper climbs.” There are a few more on the way at this Tour, including todays stage, so he could be climbing even further up in all classifications.

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