Meintjes targets a better finish than 7th at last year’s Tour de France

As he lines up for the start of the Tour de France in Bilbao in Spain on Saturday, Louis Meintjes may sport his trademark shy smile as he contemplates a Tour in which he should be considered a dark horse and serious threat for the other podium hopefuls.                      

It wasn’t that long ago that Meintjes was the face of a push to get an African on the top step of the Tour, but there is a sense that at the age of 31 the man with the schoolboy face that almost hides a steely determination has been building towards something special.

He has stated that he wants to improve on his seventh place overall at last year’s Tour. A stage win could also be on the cards. He has found a level of consistency in his form to go with a level-headed, somewhat cautious approach to his racing.

“The [2022 Tour de France] was really good,” he told the CyclingDane channel on YouTube. “It started off looking like it wasn’t going to be positive. The plan was to take it as easy as possible and not to take too many risks, and to arrive in the second week a little more relaxed and with more mental energy from not fighting too much.

“The strategy really paid off. I was feeling good, got a few opportunities in the break,” said Meintjes, who believes the success to being a good Grand Tour rider is to “learn how not to push it too far on one day and pay for it the next. It’s about paying attention to details.”

Last year’s strategy paid off with a second place on the 12th stage to Alpe d’Huez, losing to English superstar Tom Pidcock, who at 22 became the youngest rider to win on the iconic climb.

Pidcock had taken the stage by the scruff of the neck with daredevil descending and then won with a strong climb up Alpe d’Huez that just managed to hold off a rapidly closing Meintjes by 48sec. Chris Froome, a four-time winner of the Tour, was third. He had started the Tour with a good 24th in the opening time trial in Copenhagen before moving up to seventh overall and in the king of the mountains category.

He took that form into Vuelta a Espana a few weeks later and won the summit finish on stage nine, his first World Tour win. 

“It must be the best win I have had. It was a bit of a surprise. I started off really slow. I was a bit ill after the Tour. I was doubting myself, but on that day everything just worked out. I had amazing legs and got in the right break,” said Meintjes, who was 11th overall at last year’s Vuelta.

He has followed the same programme this year, with a slowish start to the season. His seventh overall in the Criterium du Dauphine, the traditional warm-up for the Tour, indicates his form is just where he needs it to be. A win in the mountains is a distinct possibility, as is winning the king of the mountains. 

His Belgian team, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, is confident, saying in their official launch statement: “Thanks to his seventh place in the edition of 2022, Louis Meintjes achieved the first top 10 of the Walloon team in the final classification. The South African rider, who already finished twice on eighth place before [2016 and 2017], will for the third year in a row receive the support of Georg Zimmermann, winner of the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné to Crest-Voland earlier this month.”

While Meintjes will be the sole South African at the Tour de France this year, he won’t be the only African on his team. Both he and Biniam Girmay, the Eritrean sprinter, will share leader status at the race. There will be no Daryl Impey nor Froome at the Tour, with both having been left off their team’s roster.