UAE Team Emirates Meintjes finishes Eighth at Critérium Du Dauphiné as Tour de France Build-up Continues Apace

Third place on final stage propels South African into a top ten General Classification spot 

Monday, 12 June 2017, United Arab Emirates:  The 69th Critérium Du Dauphiné, one of the traditional curtain-raisers and preparation races for the Tour de France, concluded on Sunday with UAE Team Emirates’ Louis Meintjes finishing eighth in the overall General Classification after a third place on the final stage. Meintjes’ podium finish saw him surpass Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) in the final General Classification. 

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) won the race overall overtaking Richie Porte (BMC) and Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) in the General Classification. 

Reflecting on the final stage, the South African UAE Team Emirates’ rider said: “Maybe if I had attacked earlier I would’ve had a shot at winning the stage but we will never know. Sometimes you try earlier and it doesn’t work out how you would have liked. I tried that on the first stage of the Dauphiné and it ended up with me losing time. With the Tour de France starting in July, the Dauphiné was extremely useful in assessing my form and allowing me to be more confident going into the Tour.”

The Critérium du Dauphiné lasted eight days and marks the traditional run-in to the Tour de France. The race had a variation of Alpine mountains, time-trials, flat and hilly stages, held across terrain that closely resembled what awaits the riders at the Tour in July.

UAE Team Emirates’ Sports Director Mario Scirea, said of the team’s performance: “I’m very satisfied and proud of the performance of the entire team at the Dauphiné. It would have been great to be able to win the final stage, however it would have been very difficult because the race speed in the final stage was very high. Chris Froome (Team Sky) had a strong desire to win the race working alongside his team to ensure they kept the racing at high speeds from stage one. The high speed made it very risky for our riders to attempt early attacks. 

Scirea Continued: “With one eye on the Tour de France, I’m pleased that all of our riders were on top form and did their best during the Dauphiné. We are confident that they will go into the Grande Boucle in even better shape. Having won the team classification on the Alpe d’Huez, Saturday’s stage performance confirmed that the average performance level of our team is very good.”

UAE Team Emirates are racing at the Tour de Suisse until Monday, 19 June. The Tour de France starts on July 1.

Stage Eight Results

General Classification after Stage Eight