Louis Meintjes became South African Road Race Champion last month and the talented 22 year old is looking forward t showing off his colours in the Tour de Langkawi and hopes having the jersey will make life a little easier.

 

"I’m really looking forward to it, hopefully it will make riding in the bunch easier. Normally the guys, when you’re wearing a special jersey, they give you a little more room in the bunch. So hopefully I get that," he told Cyclingnews, with a big grin on his face.

 

"It’s still sinking in. When I went there, especially looking at some of the form that my other teammates had leading up to it, I was sure that one them would take it. So it was a really big surprise."

 

Despite his obvious talent, it was still a surprise when the U23 World RR silver medalist beat Orica Greenedge’s Daryl Impey.

 

"Me sprinting against Daryl is like 99 to 1. Luckily that one percent came my way. It would have been nice to win another way, but cycling is about crossing the line first," explains Meintjes.

 

"It still feels good, because I was in that position. I feel that if I had one or two percent more then I could have dropped Daryl on the last climb. I take more satisfaction and more confidence out of being able to do that then actually winning the race."

 

The MTN-Qhubeka rider will now turn his attention towards winning his first race in Europe.

 

"It’s something that I would like to achieve. That’s the big dream. It’s not just stage races, one-day races are a big goal too."

 

In the long term, he hopes to get MTN to the WorldTour and maybe even become one of the peloton’s best riders. Only time will tell if this will come true.