Plateau du Solaison: UAE Team Emirates’ Louis Meintjes finished eighth in the Criterium Du Dauphine — a traditional curtain-raiser to the Tour de France — on Sunday.
The Emirati outfit got four top 10 finishes including two podiums over the eight-stage 1,155-km event from Saint Etienne to Plateau du Solaison, in France, from June 4-11. Ben Swift took a ninth, seventh and second place finish in stages one, two and seven, before Meintjes finished third in the final stage.
The overall event was won by Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang, who got three top 10 stage finishes including two wins in stages six and eight. BMC Racing’s Ritchie Porte finished second and Quick-Step Floors’ Dan Martin came third ahead of Team Sky’s Chris Froome in fourth.
“Maybe if I had attacked earlier I would’ve had a shot at winning the stage, but we will never know,” said Meintjes. “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.”
UAE Team Emirates’ sports director Mario Scirea said: “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. Team Sky’s Chris Froome 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.
“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.
Meanwhile, Jan Polanc, the 2017 Slovenian Time Trail Champion, will lead UAE Team Emirates in his home Tour of Slovenia from Thursday.
The 663.3-km four-stage race from Koper to Novo Mesto runs from June 15-18.
Polanc said: “At the end of the Giro d’Italia I was very tired, however I continued training because I didn’t want to miss racing in my home country. I am in good form at the moment and aiming for a top 10 finish. It’s difficult to determine how that will go because everything will depend on stage three, with the summit arrival. To do well you must have a good day and be careful to avoid any mistakes.”
UAE Team Emirates’ sports director Orlando Maini added: “Polanc will be our leader for this team. During the race he will be supported by Edward Ravasi. Roberto Ferrari can be competitive in the sprints and we can also vary our strategy by giving our young riders — Filippo Ganna, Oliviero Troia and Federico Zurlo- the freedom to attack.”
