Great second place of Swift at Alpe d’Huez. Meintjes goes up 11th in GC

Ben Swift got second place at Alpe d’Huez, after being part of the day’s large breakaway with Diego Ulissi. In the last ascent he went clear with Peter Kennaugh before to be distanced by him on the finale.

“There was a moment I believed in the win” said Ben Swift “but I spent so much energy and I had cramps on the finale and I couldn’t push more. What a pity!” 

Louis Meintjes raised in 11th GC position after taking the 13th place of the day. Porte is still leader of the Overall Ranking with one stage to go.

“Today I felt better than yesterday. The legs were good and I’m quite happy about the condition” says Meintjes. “But also today I was in a wrong place in the wrong moment and I suffered the last accelerations”.

Also sport director Mario Scirea was satisfied about the UAE Team Emirates’ guys: “what a stage! I’m satisfied about our race and I also thought Ben could win the stage. He passed the hardest final piece, but he had cramps. He was able to manage the final anyway, and he got a great second place. About Meintjes, he was better than yesterday and I think he’s growing day by day. I’m confident in the work we are doing for the Tour de France. We’ll see”. 

Tomorrow there will be the last stage from Albertville to Plateau de Solaison on 115 km and 4 climbs with the last one of Hors Category.

Stage result:

1 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 4:43:49

2 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE-Team Emirates +13’’

3 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team +1’11’’

13 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates +2’19’’

General Classification after stage 7

1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 25:38:29

2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky + 1’02’’

3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team + 1’15’’

11 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates +3’54’’