Paris Nice Stage 6: Flying Down the Mountain

Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quickstep) learned on the stage that he surprisingly won back the Yellow Jersey that he could not hope to out climb the Team Sky duo of Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte.  What he and his team apparently knew however, was that he could descent a hell of a lot faster than them.  With his countryman, Michal Golas and teammate, Tony Martin, the World Champion flew down the backside of the Col Saint-Ruch gabbing the more timid Richie Porte by over thirty seconds.  The others behind the Etixx-Quickstep boys are the remnants of the earlier break away.  Apparently, they don't have Kwiatkowski's descending skills either.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  To purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.  If you are enjoying reading about this race with the accompanying artwork, please check out my recently published Book de Tour - Art of the 101st Tour de France.  The book is available through most every online bookseller around the world, so just google the title to find where you can get your copy while avoiding international shipping charges.

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Paris Nice Stage 6: Preparing to Descend

The riders have to get ready to descend off of the high climbs.  They heat up with the effort of the climb often sweating despite the cold, so it is important to keep the cold wind of the fast descent from chilling their lungs.  So will still climbing, with the summit literally around the corner, Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) sits up to zip up.  Mate along with his teammate Nicolas Edet are some of the members of a rather large break away that includes, Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Jack Bauer (Orica GreenEdge), and Jon Izaquirre, the Spanish National Champion on Team Movistar.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  To purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.  If you are enjoying reading about this race with the accompanying artwork, please check out my recently published Book de Tour - Art of the 101st Tour de France.  The book is available through most every online bookseller around the world, so just google the title to find where you can get your copy while avoiding international shipping charges.

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Paris Nice Stage 6: A Long, Cold, Wet Climb

This year's Paris Nice may have been miss named.  Normally the race is nicknamed, "The Race to the Sun," however, this year it was more like a race to the rain.  Today's penultimate stage still had everything to play for with the top three podium positions only separated by 3 seconds.  Etixx-Quickstep clearly had a plan as they headed up the penultimate climb of the stage.  Going up the Col Saint-Ruch, it was a hard driving Tony Martin aided by Michal Golas that set the pace for their team leader, Michal Kwiatkowski.  Kwiatkowski hopes to put time into the two riders on Team Sky that sit just behind him on the General Classification.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.richesonart.com.  They are a wonderful family run business with truly excellent art supplies.  This painting is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  To purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.  If you are enjoying reading about this race with the accompanying artwork, please check out my recently published Book de Tour - Art of the 101st Tour de France.  The book is available through most every online bookseller around the world, so just google the title to find where you can get your copy while avoiding international shipping charges.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Spring%20Classics%20/2525754-180-174-195767/Painting/Sports.html#.VQSQxo7F-xU