Tour Stage 13: Hoping to Recover

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), the TV announcers, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, the remaining peloton and me were all surprised and confused when Richie Porte (Team Sky) suddenly lost contact with the group.  He went to his radio to talk to the team car and Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) dropped back with him.  Nieve was there to pace the Sky leader up the climb, hoping he would recover as quickly as he hit the wall.  Porte started losing big chunks of time right away and was probably going to be almost as out of contention as Chris Froome or Alberto Contador (both of whom had already gone home).  Naturally, the Photo Moto dropped back with Porte trying to get the shot that told the story of yet another deviation from the script of the 101st Tour de France.  For the previous two years, we have gotten use to seeing the black kit with the wide blue stripe of Team Sky controlling the peloton with the Yellow Jersey at the back of the line.  Will it be the turquoise of Astana instead for this edition of the Tour?  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com and will be included in my soon to be self published book of the 101st Tour de France art, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order a copy, or to discover how you can be a part of bringing the art of the sport we love to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  There are some excellent incentives for backers at every level starting at $5 USD.  Everyone who backs the project will have their name included in the special thanks page.  If you would like to purchase this painting directly, just follow the link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2404836---199992/Painting.html#.U8nH-8_D_IU