Africa’s team has made it to the other side of the Tour. We caught up with Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg who said he is encouraged by how much Louis has grown and believes that he is capable of taking the overall win some day.
Dimension Data TDF 2016 finishers at the After-Party, about to get on a boat cruise on the river Siene through Paris.
On behalf of the team I would like to thank all of you for the support you showed us during the Tour. The support from those of you who followed the Tour from home was great, and we were astounded by the huge amount South African supporters in France. All the SA flags and Afrikaans cheers along the route was amazing!
It has been a memorable three weeks – we took five stage wins, had a day of defending yellow and spent six days in the Green Jersey.
I am happy that it is over now and that we get to take some time off to unwind and relax. The last few days of racing were the hardest to get through mentally. There is no escape and your only option is to simply keep soldiering on… Quitting was never an option!
Image compliments of Gruber Images
I did enjoy the final few days though and managed to survive the last few mountain stages without too much difficulty. I was also very happy to sneak in a top 10 on the Champs Elysees. A lot of people gave me a pat on the back for that, but I am pretty pissed about it to be frank. I think my legs were better than that result and I think I have a lot more to show than 10th on a stage. I will keep fighting to take a stage win at the Tour one day.
This year’s Tour didn’t live up to the expectations of a great GC battle, Team Sky and Chris Froome were simply too dominant. And, unfortunately there weren’t enough GC guys willing to risk losing everything and really put Froome under pressure.
We are all super proud of Louis Meintjes placing eighth on the GC, it is by far the best result by any African rider. It is very encouraging to see how much Meintjes has improved this year. If he keeps at it he might be an outright leader in a year or two, we might even see him going for the overall win.
Until next year…
Regards, Reinardt
PS. We haven’t yet accomplished our ultimate goal of the season, which is to raise funds for 5000 bicycles for children in Africa through Qhubeka. Please feel free to assist us in realising this goal.
via Bicycling » Tour de France http://ift.tt/2a1D6lo
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