Dimension Data’s Louis Meintjes looks set to lead the team for the five-stage Tour of the Alps, which starts tomorrow.
The South African will be joined by Igor Anton, Lachlan Morton, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Natnael Berhane, Merhawi Kudus and Ben O’Connor.
“Tour of the Alps is a great preparation race for the Giro as you can see from the start list of GC riders,” said Janse van Rensburg.
South African Louis Meintjes looks set to lead Team Dimension Data as they compete in the five-stage Tour of the Alps from tomorrow. Photo: Scott Mitchell
“We also have most of our Giro team here as we also have been racing in Catalunya together. So the team should be riding well together at the end of this race.”
The race kicks off in Arco, which is just north of Lake Garda, and ends at Innsbruck. The longest stage is the final one, which covers just over 161km.
Over the course of the week the African team will be in search of a highly placed rider on the general classification and opportunities for stage wins.
Dimension Data’s sport director Bingen Fernandez said the Tour of the Alps was a race where many teams went with Giro riders and leaders.
“The race has a lot of good riders, the level is high and it’s a test before the Giro. Louis is going to be one of those leaders who fight to get the best out of it.
“We also have Ben, who did a good Tour of Catalunya, in our team. It’s going to be an intense week,” he said.
Janse van Rensburg agreed that O’Connor had shown great form already in Catalunya and Meintjes was also coming into fine form.
“We should have a great five days of aggressive racing coming up from our side,” he said.
Team Dimension Data’s line-up for Tour of the Alps:
Louis Meintjes
Jacques Janse van Resnburg
Igor Anton
Lachlan Morton
Merhawi Kudus
Ben O’Connor
Natnael Berhane
