Giro, Stage 20: Cooked

All of the effort, all of the kilometers, all of the climbs, and all of the attacking yesterday seemed to have finally caught up with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).  On the way up the Col Saint Pantaleon the Frenchman seemed to hit a wall.  He was cooked.  One of his teammates got him a bottle from the team car, passed it over, Pinot simply passed it back to the car.  He knew his Giro had ended and he wasn't going to be on the podium after all.  He was escorted through the rest of the stage by Sebastien Reichenbach, Jeremy Roy and Steve Morabito.  Pinot had fought hard for the complete race but sometimes the body says enough is enough.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available though my website at www.greigleach.com, or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of this post.  Since it is an original it is first come first served.  The painting was created using Yarka St Petersburg watercolors from Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 plus shipping. And yes, international shipping is available.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/101st-Giro-dItalia/3169671-87-249297/PaintingCooked--G18-91.html

Giro, Stage 20: Free to Race

Given the collapse of Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain Merida), his teammate, Matej Mohoric was free to race for himself on the penultimate stage of this the 101st Giro d'Italia.  Mohoric had left his break away companions at the base of the Col Saint Pantaleon in hopes of imitating Froome's feat from the day before.  With forty four kilometers to race, it was a tall order for the Slovenian to stay off the front despite that he was no threat to any of those in the top ten on the general classification.  The other possiblity is that he was setting himself up as a aide for Pozzovivo to bridge up to on the final climb.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available though my website at www.greigleach.com, or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of this post.  Since it is an original it is first come first served.  The painting was created using Yarka St Petersburg watercolors from Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 plus shipping. And yes, international shipping is available.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/101st-Giro-dItalia/3169669-86-249297/PaintingFree-to-Race--G18-90.html

Giro Stage 19: Under Control

Astana obviously had a plan for the end of the stage today.  Virtually the entire team could be seen driving the pace on the front of the ever diminishing peloton.  The goal seemed to be to zap the legs of everyone else in the race, hoover up all of the early breakaway and then launch someone or some two guys off of the front for a stage victory.  The hope of taking the Maglia Rosa off of the shoulders of the uber talented Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) had certainly taken flight out the window, but a stage victory and a two, three on the podium was all but certain.

Every vigilante, you can see the Pink Jersey, dancing on the pedals and keeping a sharp eye on the boys in blue.  By this point in the stage, Contador was down to just his two most talented lieutenants, Roman Kreuziger and Mick Rogers.  Contador, however, has proven he can do a stellar job defending the jersey on his own.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from Jack Richeson and Company.  They are a small family run art supply company out of Wisconsin with really great art products.  You can learn more about them at www.richesonart.com.  This painting is also available through my artist website for only $50 USD, plus shipping.  The website is www.greigleach.com.  To purchase this particular painting just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

Apparently, my website has decided it doesn't want to share my paintings today.  If you are interested in purchasing the painting, please email me at greigsart@gmail.com.

Giro Stage 19: Urging Him On

Less than a minute behind Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Pavel Kotchkov (Katusha) was desperately trying to tag onto the wheel of the Italian.  As they scaled the 12 kilometer climb up the Col Saint Pantaleon, his director sportif leaned way out the window to shout words of encouragement to the laboring Russian.  Kotchkov is one of the few native Russians who is riding the Giro for the Russia based Team Katusha.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from Jack Richeson and Company.  They are a small family run art supply company out of Wisconsin with really great art products.  You can learn more about them at www.richesonart.com.  This painting is also available through my artist website for only $50 USD, plus shipping.  The website is www.greigleach.com.  To purchase this particular painting just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

Apparently, my website has decided it doesn't want to share my paintings today.  If you are interested in purchasing the painting, please email me at greigsart@gmail.com.