Meintjes 12th As Tour Prepare For Gruelling Stage Nine

9 July 2017, United Arab Emirates: UAE Team Emirates’ Louis Meintjes finished 12th on stage eight of the Tour, in what were challenging conditions for all riders. With temperatures again hitting 30 degrees and the most difficult test to come – tomorrow’s stage nine – General Classification (GC) contenders failed to make any headway in the race for the yellow jersey.

Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) was able to open up a considerable gap on the breakaway group, as the Frenchman crossed the line 37 seconds ahead of his nearest opponent. The results leave Meintjes in 13th place in the overall GC standings and 3rd in the Youth standings going into stage nine – set to be the toughest on this year’s route.

Speaking after the stage Louis Meintjes said: “Today was an intermediate stage. We rode regular with some teams controlling the race due to the breakaway. Tomorrow the stage will be completely different.”

Stage nine will see riders tasked with a category two and three climb within the opening 15km’s and with three hors category (HC) climbs between Nantua and Chambéry, riders will face a total of 4,600 metres of climbing during the 181.5km stage. The last of the HC climbs, the Mont du Chat – appearing on the Tour for only the second time – is considered the harshest climb, given its unrelenting gradients. Riders who overcome these steep climbs will be welcomed by an 8km flat to the finish in what should be one of the most entertaining days of racing on the Tour.