UAE colors fly high at Le Tour debut

UAE Team Emirates’ riders produced a Tour de France to remember at their debut as a series of exciting stages resulted in an eleventh place finish in the overall Team standings and a top ten General Classification finish for South African, Louis Meintjes.

Meintjes was the stand-out performer for the team, placing eighth in the General Classification (GC) and second in the Youth standings. The UAE Team Emirates rider fashioned some outstanding displays during the stages, finishing in the top ten three times throughout the Tour (stage 12 – 5th, stage 17 – 9th and stage 18 – 7th).

There were also positive performances from sprint specialist, Ben Swift who finished in the top ten twice (stage 2 – 7th and stage 11 – 9th). The British rider was denied a third top ten finish when he was brought down in the controversial stage four crash which saw Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe) disqualified from the Tour.

UAE Team Emirates also showcased their attacking power with Vegard Stake Laengen putting on a thrilling display during stage six of the Tour to win the award for the most aggressive rider of the day. The Norwegian led a 210km breakaway before being caught by the counter-attack with 3km remaining. Stake Laengen was one of two UAE Team Emirates riders to pick up the red bib. Columbian Darwin Atapuma – who finished a reputable fourth in the Mountain standings – earned the award for his efforts during stage 18, where he recorded the team’s joint best result of the Tour, finishing in second place.

Diego Ulissi was the other UAE Team Emirates rider to pick up a second placed finish. The Italian looked full of confidence during stage 15. He joined the counter-attacking group early on in the race and was successful in the sprint finish, overcoming three other riders in the battle to the finish line.

The 104th edition of cycling’s most prestigious race will stake its place in history as one of the closest fought Tours of the past decade. There were tight battles across the various standings, with the riders competing for the Points and Mountain titles providing some of the most compelling riding of the Tour.

Passing through four countries – Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France – and through a total of 34 counties, riders who completed all 21 stages covered a total of 3,540km. This year’s route passed through the Alps, twice, and the Pyrenees mountains, whilst the French countryside provided fans with a stunning backdrop across stages, including; Bergerac, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Côtes du Rhone.

UAE Team Emirates’ upcoming races include; Clásica San Sebastián (Saturday 29th July), Tour of Poland (Saturday 29th July – Friday 4th August) and Prudential Ride London (Sunday 30th July). Team line-ups for each will be announced in the coming days.