Tour, Stage 18: Over the Big One

The first of the two HC Catagory climbs was the Col d'Izoard.  Julian Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) looked set to take the maximum points having led the whole way up the climb.  Sadly for him, it was the sprint of Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Merida) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) that swamped him within side of the summit.  Caruso got the points, with Bardet going over second, leaving third for Bernard.  Bardet has not been having the Tour he hoped for, but moving closer to the Maillot a Pois, should certainly raise his spirits.  If possible, it will raise the spirits of the French fans as well.  This is truly the Tour of the French!

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Tour Stage 14: Attacking the Descent

The Tour de France has numerous races within the competition for the overall lead and its Maillot Jaune.  One of the hotly contested interior races is the combination competition between Romain Bardet (AG2R) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).  The pair are fighting it out for the best young rider's White Jersey and for the honor of being the highest place Frenchman in the Tour.  It speaks well for the future of the French in their own Tour, that these are some of the youngest men in the race sitting in the top 5 in the General Classification.  Bardet knows that Pinot is not the most daring of descenders, so he used the top off of the Col d'Izoard, with the help of his teammate, Jean-Christophe Peraud, to try and distance himself from his countryman.  The move surprised everyone.  Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) help bring his team leader, Vincenzo Nibali, up to the charging Bardet, but the rest of GC men where being distanced on the descent.  It is impressive that it was Fuglsang who put in the very high speed chase down the mountain, it was he who had the spectacular crash on a descent the day before.  It may have removed some layers of skin, but it did nothing to damage his nerve.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com and it will appear in my soon to be self published, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order your copy, or to discover how to become involved in bringing the 101st Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  There are some wonderful backer rewards all of which include the Backers name in print on the Special Thanks Page of the book.  Other incentives include an artist signed book, pins, original art, and a few lucky signed copies, signed by whomever wins this Tour de France.  If you would rather just purchase this particular painting, please follow the direct link at the end of this post, but wouldn't you rather have a copy of "Book de Tour" too?

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Tour Stage 14: The Top of the Tour

It is all down hill to Paris for Joaquim Rodriquez (Katusha).  He has crossed the highest point of the 101st Tour de France, securing the Virtual Polka Dot Jersey in the process.  Even if Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) were to win the stage on the top of the final climb to Risoul, as long as Rodriguez finish within the top six on the stage, the King of the Mountians competition lead is his.  The Katusha rider was able to jump away from his countryman, Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale).  Truth be told, there are quite a few more hills to climb before Paris, most notably the Pyrenees in the final days of the Tour.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com and it will appear in my soon to be self published, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order your copy, or to discover how to become involved in bringing the 101st Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  There are some wonderful backer rewards all of which include the Backers name in print on the Special Thanks Page of the book.  Other incentives include an artist signed book, pins, original art, and a few lucky signed copies, signed by whomever wins this Tour de France.  If you would rather just purchase this particular painting, please follow the direct link at the end of this post, but wouldn't you rather have a copy of "Book de Tour" too?

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2405252---199992/Painting.html#.U8viWM_D_IU

Tour Stage 14: Teammates

Normally, when you see one team member passing a bottle to another, it is a clearly defined roll of domestique to team leader, or of a domestique who has retrieve bidons for the entire team.  Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) passed a bottle over to Geraint Thomas under the watchful eye of Jose Serpa (Lampre-Merida) and the TV Moto, but it was unclear who was riding for whom.  While it was no where near as hot as the previous day, it is still essential that the riders keep their fluids up, not only for the task at hand, but to improve their recovery and to protect their form for the following stages.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com and it will appear in my soon to be self published, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order your copy, or to discover how to become involved in bringing the 101st Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  There are some wonderful backer rewards all of which include the Backers name in print on the Special Thanks Page of the book.  Other incentives include an artist signed book, pins, original art, and a few lucky signed copies, signed by whomever wins this Tour de France.  If you would rather just purchase this particular painting, please follow the direct link at the end of this post, but wouldn't you rather have a copy of "Book de Tour" too?

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2405250---199992/Painting.html#.U8vf58_D_IU

Tour Stage 14: Headed to the Top of the Tour

Joaquim Rodriquez (Katusha) started the day in second place in the King of the Mountains competition, while he was wearing the Polka Dot Jersey on loan from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) he would prefer to be the holder of the Jersey outright.  Since Nibali is also the holder of the Maillot Jaune he is wearing the more important of the two jerseys, and it is the only time when the guy in a leader's jersey is not the leader of the competition the jersey represents.  The last man to win all three of the top Jerseys was Eddy Merckx, he would have had the White Jersey as well, but he was too old.  Rodriquez went on the attack on the fabled Col d'Izoard to try and gain enough points to claim the Polka Dots on his own.  He was followed up to the highest point of the 101st Tour de France by Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin Pro Cycling), Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) and Rein Taarame (Cofidis) all of whom hoped to gain some extra time for the final assault up to Risoul.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  It will appear in my soon to be self published, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order your copy, or to discover how you can get involved in helping to bring the art of the 101st Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  There are some excellent Backer rewards including an artist signed copy, original artwork, pins, postcards and all starting for as little as $5 USD.  Absolutely everyone who backs the project at any level will have their name included in print on the special thanks page of the book.  If you would like to purchase this particular painting, please follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2405248---199992/Painting.html#.U8vbqc_D_IU