Giro d'Italia Stage 4: The Final Dash for the Line

All of the sprinters may have had a sense of relief when they learned that Marcel Kittel would not be starting the stage due to a high fever that came on during the rest day.  Not that any of them would wish him harm or celebrate his illness.  Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) took the anger and adrenaline from his chase back on and rewarded his team's efforts in getting him back on with a very dramatic charge to the line around Tom Veelers (Giant Shimano) and ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) and Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida).  Where you may ask is Cannondale?  They fell victim to the wet roads and sharp corners just ahead of the flame rouge.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase at my artist website, www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2363409---198213/Painting.html#.U3KBz8_D_IU

Giro d'Italia Stage 4: Pacing Their Sprinter Back

First and explanation of "Neutralized"  The organizers finally settle on taking the times for the stage at the bell lap, the start of the final lap in the town of Bari.  This was done to protect both the GC contenders from crashes on the wet roads, and to thin down the peloton to let only the sprinters and their lead out trains vie for the stage making the sharp turns a bit safer.  The sprinter for FDJ, Nacer Bouhanni, had the misfortune of having a puncture on the lap just prior to the lap that the times would be taken at.  He had a hard charge to get back, first one teammate dropped back to help pace him back, and then the whole team waited at the back of the peloton to help bring him back to the business end of the race.  Unfortunately for all involved, the rains began to fall as the race heated up for the final lap and the wheels started sliding out from the peloton on the right angled turns.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase at my artist website, www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting, you can follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2363379---198213/Painting.html#.U3J9-8_D_IU

Giro d'Italia Stage 4: An Italian Bird

Two things here, first an explanation of the title.  In the USA, when one is annoyed, one may "Flip the bird" which is to stick up one's middle finger (the literal translation of the gesture is obscene and not very nice), the gesture that Bernhard Eisel (Team Sky) is making is the Italian equivalent of the American bird.  However, what Eisel was doing was actually calling the referee's motorcycle back to him to get some answers about what was going to be neutralized and what wasn't.  At this point the rain had stopped and the roads were relatively safe.  There was a lot of arguing, debate, and confusion in the peloton and the organizers weren't really being as informative or decisive as they might be.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase at my artist website, www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting you can follow the direct link at the end off this post, but why not browse around of all of the art on offer.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2363357---198213/Painting.html#.U3J5B8_D_IU

Giro d'Italia Stage 4: Adjustments on the Fly

The mechanics have a hard job, particularly the one who is in the team car.  He needs to be ready to fix anything that may come up along the course and to do it quickly while leaning out of a car at 40-50 kph.  And to do that work on a bike with a rider on it all moving at the same speed.  Here the mechanic for FDJ is trying to adjust the seat of his rider, Jussi Veikkanen, the Finnish National Champion.  I am guessing that the bikes that were raced in Ireland, have yet to arrive in Italy, so micro adjustments had not been worked out for the new bikes the riders mounted at the start in Giovinazzo.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase at my artist website, www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2363349---198213/Painting.html#.U3J2GM_D_IU