Giro d'Italia Stage 7: The Chase Is Now On

The peloton waited until it crested the only categorized climb of the day, about 39 kilometers from the end of the stage to take up the chase of the break away in earnest.  The teams with hopes of putting their sprinter first across the line at the end of the day wanted to make sure their fast man could stay in the peloton up and over the climb, before they started doing the work to catch the escapees.  Once over the top and through the short tunnel, Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing) and Simon Geschke (Giant Shimano) went to the front and drove the pace on the descent.  Notice that behind these two are the Orica GreenEdge men, Luke Durbridge and Michael Matthews resplendent in pink riding at the front to avoid any other crashes like the one that so covered the peloton in road rash or worse.  Beppu's pace was enough to gap the rest of the peloton at first, but they soon came down the back side of the climb in one very long single file line.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2364869---198213/Painting.html#.U3cl-c_D_IU