South Africans will be able to watch Louis Meintjes and Daryl Impey live in action when the 256.4km men’s Olympic road race gets under way in Rio de Janeiro today.
Impey, who represented the country in London in 2012, and Meintjes come off superb performances in this year’s Tour de France and seem to be in the best form of their careers. Impey impressed when he finished second on stage seven of Le Tour while Meintjes climbed to an impressive top 10 place in the overall standings.
Impey, 31, said their preparations for the Olympics have gone well.
“None of us have been injured or sick after the Tour. I’m excited to get things under way and to give my best performance on Saturday.”
Meintjes, 24, said the Tour had been the perfect preparation for the tough course.
“It gave me some confidence. We don’t often have the chance to race as a national team so it’s going to be different to other races and very unpredictable.”
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and An-Li Kachelhoffer will represent the country in tomorrow’s 130.3km women’s race in Fort Copacabana.
The 30-year-old Moolman-Pasio – a four-time national champion – has channelled her early season setbacks due to illness and crashes into positive energy in the lead-up to Rio. After testing the course, she said it suited her well.
Kachelhoffer, who won the Cape Town Cycle Tour and national championships this year, has been competing abroad with her European team and should be in good form.
The men’s race starts at 2.30pm South African time with the women’s event getting under way at 5pm tomorrow. Both races will be broadcast live by SuperSport.
