{"id":224361,"date":"2025-10-19T04:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T04:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/224361\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T04:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T04:46:08","slug":"it-didnt-feel-the-same-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/224361\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel the same anymore\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

South African climber Louis Meintjes<\/a> quietly closed the
\ncurtain on his professional career last weekend at Il Lombardia<\/a>, bringing to an
\nend 13 years in the peloton. The 33-year-old from Pretoria, a former Vuelta a
\nEspa\u00f1a stage winner and national champion, leaves the sport with a mix of pride
\nand relief, ready to embrace a new chapter as a father.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level in the peloton keeps rising, and at some point I
\nrealised I was no longer fighting at the front,\u201d Meintjes said in a statement through
\nhis team. \u201cI was taking risks in dangerous descents just to stay in the middle
\nof the group \u2013 and it didn\u2019t feel the same anymore. That\u2019s why I feel it\u2019s the
\nright moment to end my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

His words carried the calm of someone who had already made
\npeace with his decision. \u201cMy focus is also shifting toward family life. Very
\nsoon I\u2019ll become a father, and I want to dedicate myself fully to that new
\nrole, just like I did throughout my cycling career. I\u2019m really looking forward
\nto being there for my wife, Laura, and our twin babies on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For Meintjes, who spent much of his career racing in Europe
\nfar from home, the journey itself was as meaningful as the results. \u201cI\u2019m very
\nproud that I was able to be a professional cyclist for thirteen years. As a
\nkid, that was all I ever dreamed about \u2013 to be good enough to ride in the pro
\npeloton,\u201d he said. \u201cI never imagined winning races. Just reaching that level
\nwas already a huge challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

From his early days racing for MTN\u2013Qhubeka to competing on
\ncycling\u2019s biggest stages with UAE Team Emirates and Intermarch\u00e9\u2013Wanty, Meintjes
\nbuilt a reputation as a quiet, consistent climber capable of grinding through
\nthe hardest mountain stages. He recorded multiple top-10 finishes at the Tour
\nde France and Vuelta before claiming his long-awaited Grand Tour victory in
\n2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back now, knowing how hard it was to get there and
\nto stay there for so long, I see it as a big achievement,\u201d he reflected. \u201cI
\nreally had to fight for it \u2013 starting from nothing and finding my own way. I
\nhad to grab every single opportunity that came my way, even if it was just a
\nflat race in the Netherlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meintjes said the decision to retire had been building all
\nseason. \u201cThis season I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about the future \u2013 about becoming
\na father and about life after cycling. It felt strange to race for the last
\ntime at Il Lombardia last Saturday. To be honest, it will take some time for it
\nto sink in,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

But as one chapter ends, another is already beginning. \u201cFor
\nnow, I\u2019ll focus on family life and keep enjoying sport in a different way. Some
\nfriends challenged me to ride the Andorra Epic mountain bike race, and I\u2019ve
\nalso signed up for the Barcelona Semi-Marathon. I\u2019ll take some time to decide
\nwhat comes next, but I want to find something new that excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South African climber Louis Meintjes quietly closed the curtain on his professional career last weekend at Il Lombardia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-224361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}