Giro d'Italia Stage 1: No Luck for the Irish

Normally, I don't feature the crashes in my cycling art, but this crash represented so much of the heart break of bike racing.  Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) was one of two Irish racers who had the honor of racing in one of the three Grand Tours on his home soil.  I have even heard the claim that the reason this running of the Giro started with a Team Time Trial was to get him into the Maglia Rosa, as Garmin Sharp is one of the strongest time trialing teams.  But it takes just on millisecond, a brief lost of traction on a wet manhole cover, to bring all of the planning, training, and dreaming to come to an abrupt and painful end.  To add to the team's woes, when Dan went down, he didn't hit the pavement alone, but was joined on the asphalt by five other teammates.  With the rules of timing, those that hadn't fallen had to wait for enough Garmin Sharp riders to get back on their bikes, before they could press on for the finishing line.  This has now but the winner of the 2012 Giro, Ryder Hesjedal, in a very deep hole (three and a half minutes) that he may not be able to climb out of to repeat his previous victory.  Sadly, this is the end of Martin's Giro, 15 minutes after it began.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that can be yours by visiting my artist website at www.greigleach.com or you could just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2361647---198213/Painting.html#.U2329c_D_IU