Johannesburg – There are moments of supreme magic and majesty in sport that few others can match. On Thursday, Daryl Impey experienced one of the greatest as he was dressed in the yellow jersey of the leader of the Tour de France, the first South African and African to do so.
Impey stood on the podium after the sixth stage of the Tour de France, flowers in one hand and the stuffed Lion that is given to each who wear the yellow jersey. Today he will wake up as a Lion King of African sport, a battler who would not give up his dream of competing on the grandest stage of them all. “It’s an unbelievable experience,” said Impey, who rides for the Australian Orica-GreenEdge team, on Thursday. “If you’d told me I was going to be wearing this (yellow jersey), I would have said you were lying. It is a special moment for me and for African cycling.”
There was serendipity in the fact that Impey won the jersey in Montpellier, for it was in this city in the south of France in 2007 that Robbie Hunter became the first South African to win a stage at the Tour de France. He beat Fabian Cancellara in a sprint finish on the 11th stage of the race. “Seems this French town has some kind of appeal for South Africans,” tweeted Hunter after watching Impey pull on the jersey.
Impey had finished 13th on Thursday’s stage, which was won by German Andre Griepel. Impey had been second on the overall standings behind his teammate, Simon Gerrans, who had held the jersey after Orica-GreenEdge had won the team time trial in Nice on Tuesday. The two had been equal on time, and it had been speculated that Impey would take the jersey on Wednesday’s fifth stage into Marseille, but he told The Star that the team had decided not to take any risks during the sprint as they had the yellow jersey to protect. On Thursday, Gerrans performed the lead-out duties for Impey, which Impey had performed for him on Monday when he won the third stage in Corsica.
“When Simon (Gerrans) got the jersey on stage three, I was happy to do the work for him, but he saw how much it meant to me and how much it would change my life,” said Impey. “To see him do the lead-out today shows how much of a champion he is. He could have sat up, but he lead out Gossy (Matt Goss) and I was lucky to be his last lead-out man. I’m now the first for something.”
There are few who would disagree that Impey deserved to be the first South African to wear yellow. He has a reputation as one of the most decent and hard-working men in South African cycling, the son of Tony Impey, a former professional himself who was considered one of the toughest riders in the country. The family, from the south of Joburg, own a bike shop in Bedfordview, and, reckoned Doug Ryder, the team principal of Team MTN-Qhubeka, who is planning for his team to be the first African-registered squad to take part in the Tour de France, the shop will be packed pn Saturday. “I’m totally speechless,” said Ryder, who gave Impey his first professional ride. “He is such a role model.”
Impey is three seconds ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky, with Gerrans a further two seconds back. Chris Froome is seventh. – The Star