UAE Team Emirates will compete in its first Tour de France, the second Grand Tour of the season, this Saturday.
The team will boast a line-up that includes both strong Climbers and Attackers, all seeking stage wins on the ultimate test of professional cycling.
Among the UAE Team Emirates line-up is South African rider and eighth place finisher in last year’s Tour de France, Louis Meintjes, who will be leading the team’s General Classification charge at the 104th edition of the race.
Starting in Dusseldorf, the race takes place from Saturday July 1 to Sunday July 23, with 21 stages in the contest for the famous winner’s Maillot Jaune or Yellow Jersey.
This year cycling’s oldest and most prestigious race will take place in three countries, see two individual time trials and three mountain-top finishes.
Joining GC contender Louise Meintjes in the UAE Team Emirates Tour de France team are eight other riders including Briton Ben Swift and Italian Diego Ulissi – both of whom will be hunting stage wins.
Looking ahead to cycling’s most famous race 25 year old Meintjes said: “Last year I placed eighth overall at the Tour and I’m hoping to move up in the GC this year. I am hoping that the first week goes smoothly with no obstacles and that when the mountain stages come around my performance is as good as it was during the Critérium du Dauphiné.”
Louis Meintjes (RSA – UAE Team Emirates)
Swift who finished second on Alpe d’Huez at the 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné will ride at the Tour de France for the first time since 2011. Considering his participation in this year’s race he said: “This year’s Tour will be different from my previous experiences at this race. I have the freedom to hunt for my own stage victories as opposed to just supporting the team.
“This is a newfound freedom in my career that I am excited to explore. In the past, I always worked for the team, and now I’m happy that UAE Team Emirates has put their trust and faith in me to tackle the stages that are most suited to my abilities.”
Commenting on his Tour de France debut Italian Diego Ulissi said: “This will be my race debut – it is a race I have obviously wanted to tackle all my life. I am constantly looking to find new challenges in my career and want to experience first-hand cycling’s oldest and most prestigious race. My objective is to try and win stages, however I am aware that this is one of the most difficult goals as everyone is trying to do the same.”
Diego Ulissi (ITA – UAE Team Emirates)
Le Tour was first held in 1903 and is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grands Tours attracting annually over 10 million spectators along the route.
Riding alongside Meintjes at the 104th edition of the Tour de France from UAE Team Emirates are: Ben Swift, Diego Ulissi, Darwin Atapuma, Matteo Bono, Kristijan Durasek, Vegard Stake Laengen, Marco Marcato and Manuele Mori.
Confirming the line-up, UAE Team Emirates’ Sporting Director Mario Scirea said: “We are quite confident with the team line-up taking part in this year’s Tour especially following the good performance at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
“The riders are in good form and have worked so hard as a team during this last month on their altitude training on Mount San Pellegrino in Italy.”
