Robbie Hunter, who became the first South African to win a stage at the Tour de France in 2007, says the race launched in 1903 remains the pinnacle of the sport and he would like to see more South African riders excelling at its summit.
Hunter made history 16 years ago when he won stage 11 of the race, a sprint leg from Marseille to Montpellier that comprised 182km. In 2013, Daryl Impey followed Hunter’s lead by wearing the yellow jersey. However, a decade later there won’t be a South African contender for the overall title at the start line in Bilbao, Spain, on Saturday for this year’s 3,405km race, comprising 21 stages and 23 days. However, Louis Meintjes, who managed a hugely impressive third top-10 overall placing last year, is a good bet for a fourth.
This year’s race will start in the Basque region and Hunter expects a rousing beginning given the vociferous support from the cycling-mad locals lining the streets.
“The Tour de France is the pinnacle of the sport and everybody wants to win a stage,” Hunter told TimesLIVE Premium from his base in Switzerland, where he now works for ProTouchGlobal — a sports management firm.
Hunter, 46, said what made his stage victory challenging was the heat and substantial wind ripping through the pellaton that day in 2007, rather than the distance. He also managed to avoid a crash other riders were involved in less than 2km from the finish.
Fast forward to this year’s race and Hunter picks Meintjes, who placed second in stage 12 last year, for another strong ride. “Louis has been performing really well lately. He has taken the leadership on his shoulders over the last two years and he stands up strong to adversity.”
Meintjes finished seventh overall in 2022. Hunter said his three top 10 finishes in a race, requiring such monolithic effort from its contestants, is something mere mortals easily underestimate. “People might downplay it, but that is an amazing feat. Riding for three weeks and finishing in the top 10 in a grand tour like the Tour de France is so impressive.”
As a sprinter rather than a climber, it was a feat Hunter could never achieve. “I could ride a good time trial, but the minute it got to the mountains there was no chance for me.” Meintjes is a climber. Hunter said the 31-year-old from Pretoria has “a better chance of falling pregnant than winning a sprint race”, but stresses Meintjes is a competitor for the overall top-10 because he can climb with the world’s best and do well in time trials.
To win the Tour de France, Hunter said, you have to be an all-round rider capable of dominating the mountains and being more than average in every other aspect such as time trials and positioning. The race is widely regarded as the toughest sports endurance competition in the world. “You have access to personal chefs and massages after the stages, but you are out there for 23 days pushing your body to its limits, which is by no means an easy ask,” Hunter said.
You have to start in South Africa and learn the ropes, but the sooner you head abroad to get a taste of international racing, the better.
— Robbie Hunter
This year’s race — consisting eight flat, four hilly and eight mountain stages; four summit finishes, one individual time trial and two rest days — sees 176 riders compete. Last year, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard won with Slovenian Tadej Pogacar nipping at his heels. European riders are set to dominate again in 2023.
In 2022, Qondisa Ngwenya was appointed Cycling South Africa’s new president and he has spoken of his vision to transform the way the country’s ruling body develops the performance of future talent. Nicholas Dlamini’s appearance at the 2021 Tour de France was a seismic moment as he became the first black South African rider to compete in the race’s 119-year history.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Nic, who did a great thing racing the tour,” Hunter said. “His career got cut short for a lot of reasons, but a mistake many cyclists from SA make is that as soon as they turn pro, they think they’ve made it, which is not the case.”
Hunter bemoans the lack of grassroots system in the sport in SA and a huge lack of funding and resources, which make it it difficult to reach the top. “In SA, the reality is most people who are performing in the sport are putting in their own money or are privately funded.”
He noted that the profile of the sport is becoming younger and cyclists in Europe are turning professional at 18. “As a cyclist, without a doubt you can’t become a professional in SA,” Hunter said.
“We don’t have guys from SA willing to do what it takes and come across to Europe at a young age. You have to start in SA and learn the ropes, but the sooner you head abroad to get a taste of international racing, the better. Trying to turn pro at 23 is near impossible because of the way the sport’s going, and by then they should rather get real jobs.”
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