The two South African riders who will start the Tour de France in Brittany on Saturday, Nic Dlamini and Stefan de Bod, marked the occasion with simple, true statements that gave weight to the depth of the achievement of just making the starting line-up for the grand old lady of cycling.
“This race is the dream of every cyclist and I will enjoy every day of racing, even if there will be some hard moments,” said De Bod, prefacing that with some stuff that had obviously been written for him by the Astana-Premier Tech team media officer: “I am grateful for the opportunity to make my debut at the Tour de France together with a strong and experienced squad and I will give my best to pay back their confidence in me. I am excited to chase our team’s goals of winning stages. We had a good week of racing at the Tour de Suisse, where I felt already in good shape.”
Dlamini, the kid from Capricorn, near Muizenberg in Cape Town, who has become an icon, said: “Being selected to ride in my first Tour de France is an absolute dream come true for me. It’s always been an absolute childhood dream for me and now that I’m about to live it makes it feel surreal. I think it speaks to what the team is about, the ubuntu spirit, and how we change people’s lives because it is honestly a very special moment: to come from a small township and then to go to the Tour de France ... for more kids ... to dream big. I am living my dream.”
Dlamini will, as well he should, receive all the focus when he starts on Saturday. His story has been told many times, as well it should, for it serves a purpose greater than just his being an athlete of some stature. His ride will be one to savour and watch, for he has an ability to suffer and go deep that is born of that big dream and that is sustained of building that dream for others.
It is a dream Songezo Jim once lived, when he became the first black South African to take part in a World Tour race, the Milan-SanRemo, in 2013. Two years later, he became the first black South African to ride in a Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana.
Dlamini, still knocking on the door of Dimension Data’s continental feeder team, would have marked those moments for Jim and saw the big dream that little bit closer.
Dlamini was called up to the World Tour team the year after Jim was cut from the squad, which remains a decision that felt unexpected. Jim rode that 2015 Vuelta with Louis Meintjes, who finished 10th in the race after announcing he was leaving the South African team to join Lampre, the Italian outfit.
It did not go down well. There were ructions behind, and sometimes in front of, the scenes with Doug Ryder and Rob Hunter, his agent, over that. The two have long banged heads. It makes for fun chats.
Meintjes will line up for his fourth Tour with Belgian side Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, who have backed Meintjes with some support riders.
“We want to show ourselves to our advantage on as many stages as possible: in the breakaways, in the sprints but also in the mountains around Louis Meintjes,” said team CEO Jean-François Bourlart.
“For that matter, our selection is well balanced in order to achieve our two main objectives: to win a stage and to place Louis as high as possible in the final general classification in Paris, because we must not forget that he entered the final top eight twice.”
How could we forget? 2016 and 2017 were great years for Meintjes, perhaps his best, as he twice finished eighth overall and runner-up in the young rider category in the Tour, and took seventh at the Olympics. His return to Dimension Data was marked by injuries and a loss of form, an iffy few years of hope and despair.
The team had announced Vision 2020, to get an African rider to win the Tour. It was announced with great fanfare in 2018. Meintjes was the best bet, but betting in cycling never works out.
Except, that is, if you had to bet on Dlamini. He followed a dream. He made it come true. On Saturday, back home in Capricorn and across the country, young black kids will live it with him.
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