Rio Olympian Daryl Impey was South Africa’s stand-out rider on the penultimate day of the Tour de France on Saturday.
The national time trial champion was fifth-fastest as the field took on an individual time trial over 22.5 kilometres through the city of Marseilles.
The Orica-Scott cyclist ended 20 seconds down on Poland’s Maciej Bodnar, who clocked 28min 15sec.
‘TT of my life today, 5th @letour, chuffed with that ride! Congrats to @maciejbodnar , deserved it from being so close last time,’ said Impey on his Twitter account.
And Impey’s fellow Olympian Louis Meintjes continued his epic battle for the Best Young Riders’ white jersey… the two were 32nd and 33rd respectively, inseparable 1:34 off the pace.
The other two South Africans in the tour, the Dimension Data for Qhubeka pair of Jaco Venter and Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg, ended 142nd and 148th respectively, 3:40 and 3:51 down.
Meintjes has now cemented his spot in the top 10 General Classification standings, 8min 30sec down on Chris Froome, who will ride into Paris on Sunday to win a fourth Tour de France.
That mirrors the South African’s finish in last year’s Tour de France, while Impey lies 47th, 2:01:59 back off the yellow jersey.
In the Best Young Rider competition, Meintjes ends 2:06 back on Yates, after three weeks of tough racing.
Sunday’s final and mainly symbolic stage is a 103km ride from Montgeron to Paris.