Louis Meintjes (MTN-Qhubeka) confirmed his ability as a pure climber with a solid performance during the first mountain finish at the Giro del Trentino to Brentonico above Trento.
The 23-year-old South African climber was unable to follow Richie Porte's violent acceleration 2km from the finish but had the form to finish ninth on the stage and so take the white jersey of the best young rider. Meintjes won the recent Coppi e Bartali stage race in Italy with a solo attack on the last stage and looked good in the select group that formed on the earlier Hors Category climb of Santa Barbara when Team Sky shook out the peloton and overall contenders.
Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) and Ag2r-La Mondiale trio Romain Bardet, Jean-Christophe and Domenico Pozzovivo all cracked when Porte attacked, but Meintjes had the legs to limit his losses and finished in a small chase group at 43 seconds.
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"It was pretty relaxed for most of the stage because everyone was waiting for the last two big climbs. Then Team Sky put down a hard tempo on the HC climb (the Passo Santa Barbara) and suddenly it was down to about 20 GC guys," Meintjes told Cyclingnews after pulling on the white jersey.
"Then when Porte went he was pretty much in a class of his own. When he decided to go everyone else could only watch him ride away."
Meintjes finished second to Michel Landa (Astana) on the big mountain stage to Monte Bondone last year but feels he has stepped up a level just as the MTN-Qhubeka team has done in 2015.
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