Tour '25, Stage 15: Has the Fire Gone Out?

The seven guys who had been with Tim Wellens had tried hard to chase down the former Belgium time trialist.  At twelve kilometers to go they had lost a minute and thirty-nine seconds to the lone leader.  It just seemed to me that the fire had gone out of the chase as Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel-Premier Tech), Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Alexsandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Warren Barguil (Picnic-PostNL), and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers) free-wheeled down one of the many rollers into the finish town of Carcassone.  Perhaps they had switched their thinking to how can I get second on the stage.  Carlos Rodriguez was the only one with GC aspirations.  If he could keep the group's advantage over the peloton he would move up from tenth to nineth ahead of tomorrow's rest day.

Side note, with just two kilometers to race, Campenaerts jumped free and claimed second over the combined chase groups led home by none other than Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) who had started his day on the ground holding his injured shoulder.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The work sells for $99 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Has the Fire Gone Out? TdF25-100" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour '24, Stage 4: The Race for Second

I truly hope this title does not be come prophetic.  This group of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) came in thirty-five seconds after the stage winner and Almeida's teammate Tadej Pogacar.  Another two seconds further back are Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Carlos Rodriquez (Ineos-Grenadiers).  Three had started the day equal on time with the new Maillot Jaune, and Roglic had been a few seconds back on the others.  Then there is Almeida who just by virtue of helping his team leader has moved himself up in the general classification.  I do hope that all will still be fighting to win the 111th Tour and switch to racing for the podium.  We won't know until the Individual Time Trial on Stage 7.  For the next two days we can focus on the sprinters and whether Mark Cavendish will get that 35th Tour stage win.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"The Race for Second TdF24-22" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France 23, Stage 17: Back to Help

Both UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma had put two riders into the early break with the thinking that they could either go for the stage win, or be there to help their leaders on the final climb of the day.  UAE left their guys in the break when Tadej Pogacar got into trouble at his encouragement.  Conversely, as Jonas Vingegaard's domestiques started to drop away, they pull back each of their guys one by one to come help increase the gap between Vingegaard and the struggling Pogacar.  Wilco Kelderman looks back to gauge the speed of Sepp Kuss so that his Jumbo-Visma teammates won't have to slow as they come up to his wheel.  At this point, Carlos Rogdriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers) was getting a "free" ride up the Col de la Loze with the hope of back into third place (if not higher).

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3966376-116-297438/Painting/back-to-help-tdf23-116.html

Tour de France 23, Stage 14: Seizing His Moment

Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers) had seen his chance as the two leaders looked at each other over the summit of the Col de Joux Plane.  As they recovered from their efforts, Rodriguez pushed past at full speed, which he seemed to increase all of the way down the mountain and into Morzine.  Behind Vingegaard and Pogacar were joined by Pogacar's teammate Adam Yates.  And still the three could not chase down the Spaniard in the British team.  With first place gone and with it its bonus seconds, there was no chance for Pogacar to take the Maillot Jaune off the shoulders of Vingegaard. They ended the day with an additional second between them.  

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3965648-93-297438/Painting/seizing-his-moment-tdf23-93.html

 

Tour de France 23, Stage 14: The Elite of the Tour

With just about five kilometers left to climb of the Col de Joux Plane it was looking like the plan of Jumbo-Visma turned out to be a draw.  But as Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) led his teammate up the climb, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) had just Adam Yates to do the same job as Kuss for him.  Unassisted were the two guys riding third and fourth in the general classification, Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grendiers).  At this moment they are riding in the opposite order of where they stand in the GC.  Just dropping of the back is the one guy who didn't really belong with this group, Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citroen).  He is the only other guy to wear the Maillot a Pois in this Tour.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3965625-90-297438/Painting/the-elite-of-the-tour-tdf23-90.html

 

 

Tour de France 23, Stage 13: Maintaining the Status Quo

With just a mere kilometer and a half to race, it looked like the much anticipated GC show down on the Grand Colombier might not happen.  Both Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) each still had one teammate that could set the pace on the front of the group, It was Simon Yates (UAE Team Emirates) who had attacked, but was quickly covered by Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).  They were each followed in turn by their respective team leaders.  On their wheels were the other top riders in the Tour, Carlos Rodriquez and Thomas Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers, with Jai Hendley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula) all keeping a close eye on the leaders and their own aspirations for the podium in Paris.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at greigleach.com or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since it is an original work of art, it is a first come first served reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3965508-80-297438/Painting/reading-the-race-tdf23-80.html