Tour Stage 8: With a Fan's Help

Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp) was having a great stage, hanging tight with the hard pace setting by Tinkoff-Saxo, benefiting from their aggressive pace setting.  But like his countryman, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) the day before, Talansky crashed inside of 15 kilometers to the finish.  Talansky was not surrounded by teammates when he and several others missed a turned on the wet descent of the Col de Grosse Pierre, sliding into a group of fans.  The Garmin Sharp leader got the assistance of the festively dressed tifosi who held onto Talansky bike as he check the wheels and rethreaded his chain.  With his placement in the top ten, he couldn't wait for his team car to give him a new bike, he needed to save every second he could getting back up and on down the road.  It was good to see a fan that was more interested in being of service rather than trying to get a selfie with one of the hopefuls of the Tour.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  This painting will be included in my soon to be self published tome of the Tour, "Book de Tour".  To learn more about the book project, to pre order your copy or to possibly get involved in bring the 101st Tour de France through the eyes of a cycling artist to print please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  If you would like to purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2401744---199992/Painting.html#.U8JBo8vD_IU