Meintjes out of Tour of California with fractured wrist
17 May 2019 03:45
Dimension Data's Louis Meintjes was a non-starter for stage 5 of the Tour of California in Pismo Beach on Thursday, having been a victim of the now infamous crash that happened just over 3km from the finish of stage 4 in Morro Bay. The South African fractured his wrist in the crash, which delayed race leader Tejay van Garderen and his EF Education First teammates in their efforts to return to the front of the race after van Garderen had crashed earlier on. Despite the crash in which Meintjes was involved having taken place with more than 3km to go to the finish, van Garderen was awarded the same finish time as the front group, as is the UCI ruling for crashes that happen inside the final 3km of a stage.ADVERTISEMENT "Meintjes bravely completed the stage in obvious discomfort and was immediately seen to by our medical team at the finish, after which he was taken to a local hospital for further investigation," read a team press statement. "He will now travel to Hamburg [Germany] for further treatment by a specialist surgeon." The press release also pointed out that Meintjes had only recently returned to competition after suffering a groin injury in a crash that forced him out of Paris-Nice on stage 2 in mid-March. Before coming to Calfornia, the 27-year-old made his return at the Tour de Romandie, where he finished 34th overall, and he and his team were looking forward to seeing how the climber could have performed on Friday's sixth stage of the Tour of California, with its summit finish on Mount Baldy. Further updates on Meintjes – who is scheduled to ride this year's Tour de France – are expected from his team in the coming days.
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