News | Tour de France • July 14, 2017
Meintjes mixes it with GC contenders on stage 13
South African continues good form for UAE Team Emirates with solid stage 13 performance
UAE Team Emirates’ Louis Meintjes continued his fine form on the Tour de France, as the South African rider kept pace with GC contenders throughout the 101km race. Meintjes, who joined a counter-attacking group of six which included Yellow Jersey rider Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Cycling), now moves up to ninth in the General Classification (GC) standings.
Frenchman Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) was the eventual winner, crossing the line in a sprint finish to take today’s stage and in doing so, gaining the Polka-dot Jersey for tomorrow’s race. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Cycling) retains the Yellow Jersey for a second day.
Commenting on his jump in the GC standings, Louis Meintjes said: “The legs felt good. It was a bit of a strange race, really fast but I think it was a little bit crazy. No one really knew what to do. I think whatever makes it interesting, it’s not that it’s good or bad.I think a lot of variety is good. It was good, a lot of mountains! I’m back into the top 10 so that’s nice, you try and do your best and race your race and see where I end up. It’s really hard to say [if I can get top 5] because there are more than five really good riders in front of me so I will need a lot of luck to enter into the top 5.
Running parallel to last year’s stage 11, this year’s stage 14 runs 181.5km from Blagnac to Rodez. Whilst this route looks reasonably flat, the rolling hills have a tendency to trap those with fatigued legs from the previous stage in the Pyrenees. This could be one of the most unpredictable stages of the Tour.
Stage 13 results
1 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 2:36:29
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team s.t.
3 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-SegaFredo s.t.
12 Louis Meintjes (SA) UAE Team Emirates +1’48”
General Classification results after stage 13
1 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 52:51:49
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky +6’’
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +25’’
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac +35’’
5 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky +1’09’’
9 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 4’51’’
