Louis Meintjes (born 21 February 1992) is a South African cyclist, who rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

. He won the South African National Road Race Championships in 2014, and has finished 8th overall in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, on 3 occasions in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

. He has also finished 10th overall at the

2015 Vuelta a España The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling race. The race was the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España and took place principally in Spain, although two stages took place partly or wholly in Andorra, and was the 22nd race in ...

, and won a stage at the

2022 Vuelta a España The 2022 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in the Netherlands and Spain between 19 August and 11 September 2022. It was the 77th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final grand tour of the 2022 men's r ...

Career

MTN–Qhubeka (2013–2015)

Meintjes announced himself to the cycling world in September 2013, when he earned the silver medal in the under-23 road race at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

. Meintjes had an impressive 2014 season where he rode his first grand tour, the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

. His best result at the Vuelta a España was 5th place on stage 14. In March 2015, Meintjes won the final stage of the

Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Ital ...

, securing him the overall victory as well. He was named in the start list for the

. He finished fifth on the mountain stage to Plateau de Beille before exiting the Tour due to illness. He was 10th in the

Lampre–Merida (2016–2017)

2016

In September 2015, Meintjes announced that he would be joining on a two-year contract from 2016. He started the 2016 season riding the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI World ...

and finished 16th overall, and 5th in the young rider classification. Meintjes however, first showed his form in the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is par ...

by finishing 9th overall and placing 5th on the stage to Méribel. Then he rode the

where he took 8th place overall and 2nd place in the

young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

. He was sitting in 9th place overall after the 10th stage, but lost time in the following stage in the crosswinds. He recovered during the mountain time trial on stage 18, regaining his 9th place. On the following stage to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, Meintjes finished fourth sprinting with Joaquim Rodríguez and

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009, ...

. He finished with the favourites on the next stage, achieving 8th place in Paris. Meintjes' next race was the road race at the Rio Olympics. He was dropped before the last climb but he bridged the gap before sprinting to 7th place at Copacabana Beach.

2017

Meintjes finished 6th overall at the

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races ...

, and two months later he finished 8th overall at the

. At the

, Meintjes was once again team leader for , and slowly made his way into top 10 in the second week, as he finished 5th on stage 12 to Peyragudes. He moved up further two positions in the final week, and finished 8th overall for the second time in his career at the Tour. His last race of the season was the

where he finished 12th overall.

Team Dimension Data (2018–2020)

Meintjes returned to his former team, , for the 2018 season. In May 2018, he was named in the startlist for the Giro d'Italia. However he struggled with his form throughout the spring, and was not consistent at all, and abandoned the race in the third week. His best result of the season came at his final preparation race for the

, the

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day ...

, where he finished 9th overall. Meintjes struggled once again at the Vuelta a España, and he would go on to finish 58th overall.

Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux

In November 2020, Meintjes signed a one-year contract with the team. Meintjes finished in 6th place in the 2022 Critérium du Dauphiné, his best result in a stage race in five years. During the

he rode at the front of the race up Alpe d'Huez and was in contention of winning before being dropped by Tom Pidcock. He climbed to 13th place overall after this stage and two days later he got involved in another breakaway; finishing over +11:00 ahead of the GC favourites and moving into 7th place overall, jumping ahead of Gaudu, Pidcock and Enric Mas. He survived the finishes at Peyragudes and Hautacam as the race crossed the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

; and had a realistic chance at finishing top 5 overall going into the final time trial. He ended up 8th after having a tough day in the ITT, this made for the third time in his career he finished top 10, all of them 8th place, and the first since

. At the

, Meintjes won Stage 9, which was his first ever Grand Tour stage win.

Major results

;2010 : National Junior Road Championships ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Time trial ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Road race ;2011 : 1st Stage 3

Triptyque Ardennais The Triptyque Ardennais is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in Belgium since 1959. No cyclist has won the race more than once. Winners References {{DEFAULTSORT:Triptyque Ardennais Cycle races in Belgium Recurring sporting ev ...

: African Road Championships ::2nd Silver medal africa

Team time trial ::2nd Silver medal africa

Time trial : 2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 3rd Sint-Lambrechts-Herk : 4th Overall Anatomic Jock Race : 5th Walhain Road Race ;2012 : National Under-23 Road Championships ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

::2nd Road race : 1st Fast One : 3rd Aubel (Liege) : 5th Overall Sea Otter Classic : 6th Overall Tour des Pays de Savoie ;2013 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Under-23 road race ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Under-23 time trial ::2nd Road race ::4th

: 2nd

Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships : 2nd Overall Tour of Rwanda ::1st Stage 3 : 4th Overall

Tour de Taiwan The Tour de Taiwan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Taiwan since 1978, and has been part of the UCI Asia Tour since 2005. It has been classed a 2.1 category race for the first time in 2012. History The Tour de T ...

: 9th Overall Tour de Korea ::1st Stage 5 ( TTT) : 10th Overall La Tropicale Amissa Bongo ;2014 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Road race ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Under-23 road race ::1st MaillotSudáfrica

Under-23 time trial : 2nd Overall Mzansi Tour ::1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 2 : 5th Overall Giro del Trentino ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification : 8th

, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships ;2015 : African Road Championships ::1st African Continental Champion Jersey

Road race ::2nd Silver medal africa

Team time trial ::4th Time trial : 1st Jersey green

Overall

::1st Stage 4 : 1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification,

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Ho ...

: 3rd

, National Road Championships : 6th Overall

Tour of Oman The Tour of Oman is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Oman since 2010 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was scheduled to become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020, but both the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled ...

::1st

Young rider classification : 8th Overall Giro del Trentino ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification : 10th Overall

;2016 : 7th Road race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

: 8th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2017 : 6th Overall

: 8th Overall

;2018 : 9th Overall

;2019 : 3rd

, National Road Championships ;2022 : 1st Stage 9

: 1st

Giro dell'Appennino The Giro dell'Appennino is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Fausto Coppi, Francesco Moser, Felice ...

: 3rd Overall Giro di Sicilia : 6th Overall

: 6th Mercan'Tour Classic : 7th Overall

General classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Team Lampre–Merida Profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meintjes, Louis 1992 births 20th-century South African people 21st-century South African people Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic cyclists of South Africa South African Vuelta a España stage winners South African male cyclists Sportspeople from Pretoria White South African people