South African Louis Meintjes made history the first African cyclist to finish in the top 10 of a Grand Tour when he completed La Vuelta a España on Sunday.
Meintjes finished safely in the bunch on the final stage to round out a consistent performance and secure his 10th position overall.
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The three-week tour was won by Fabio Aru (Astana), with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) taking the runner-up spot and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) third.
It was Team MTN-Qhubeka’s third Grand Tour in as many years, with all nine riders making it to Madrid. Seven of the riders are from Africa and it was the first Grand Tour for three of them.
Kristian Sbaragli, who finished eighth on the 50km final stage, also sweetened the team’s performance with a win on stage 10 of the tour.
MTN-Qhubeka achieved nine top-10 stage finishes at La Vuelta.
Meintjes said he could not have achieved his result without the team.
“To have seven of the riders coming from Africa and achieving the results we did, it really is something special. I am really happy with my result, it was a bit more than I expected to achieve at this Vuelta.”
