Tour '26, Stage 21: And Now, We Race

Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) in his Colombian Champion's jersey was lucky enough to have his mechanical before the peloton started to race in earnest.  Just as he joined Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon-CMA CGM), Guillaume Martin (Groupama FDJ-United) and Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) at the back of the peloton just as the pace ramped up on the front.  As they headed up towards the l'Arc de Trimophe, it was clear that the aggressors were hoping to get free of what they felt would be the grip of the sprinters' teams.  Here we go!

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.

Purchase this painting here: "And Now, We Race TdF26-158" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Learn more about Greig Leach at The Art of Cycling: About the Artist: Greig Leach

And learn about Leach's published books at The Art of Cycling: Cycling Books by Greig Leach

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Tour '24, Stage 19, Looking to Catch Back On

Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) had been dropped near the summit of the Cime de La Bonette.  He was diving down the mountain as fast as he possibly could in hopes of catching back onto the tail of the greatly reduced peloton.  He did manage to catch up, but did so at the base of the final climb of the day.  Once the road went up again, he wasn't able to hold on.  Given that he had detached on the previous mountain, and had spent huge amounts of energy to catch, it was little surprise he was dropped again.  He did finish nineteenth on the stage which was enough to keep him in thirteenth overall.  

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. 

"Looking to Catch Back On TdF24-119" (Original art by Greig Leach) 

Tour '24, Stage 11: Last Chance Saloon

With the peloton closing in on the early breakaway, the team cars will soon be pulled out of the gap.  Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-Ag2r-Mondiale) in his tri-colore French National Champion jersey wisely grabbed a bottle and some food while he still had the chance.  Lapeira was joined in the break by his fellow Frenchman Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) in the now ten-man group.  With another 61 kilometers left in the stage, the peloton was just too close for these guys to still have any hope of a stage win.  With four more climbs to come, it most likely means they won't have much chance to amass King of the Mountain Points either.

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.

"Last Chance Saloon TdF24-58" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France 23, Stage 12: Wanting the One that Got Away

These six were all after the one who got away on the final descent of the day.  Well, one isn't chasing.  Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) had a lone teammate up the road so he was either on the back getting a free ride, or like now, on the front trying to slow the chase.  Martin was in the group with Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), the French hero Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X).  With fourteen kilometers to race, it was beginning to look like they will be racing for second place today.  On the other hand both Martin and Pinot were working hard to increase their time gains on those ahead of them on the general classification.  Fortunately for them, while many were ahead of them, all of them were behind.  At the end of the day, both move up five places each.  That put Thibaut Pinot into the top ten, just 32 seconds behind his own team leader, David Gaudu.  They are now the two top placed Frenchmen in the 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-2023/3965365-74-297438/Painting/wanting-the-one-that-got-away-tdf23-74.html

Tour '22, Stage 7: Just That Hard!

Normally, I don't paint after the stage winner as crossed the line, but when I saw Louis Meintjes (Intermache-Wanty Gobert-Materiaux) running with his bike towards the finish I just had to paint it.  It reminded my of Chris Froome running on Alp d'Huez without his bike several Tours ago.  I don't know why he was off his bike, but this whole image sums up just how hard the final kilometer of La Super Planches des Belles Filles was.  Ahead of Meintjes the exhaustion of everyone was plain to see.  Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) looked spent with his jersey wide open as he finished 13th on the stage.  Behind him wearing the Maillot Blanc on loan from the race leader was Tom Pidcock (Ineos-Grenadiers) just barely moving with his head hung low.  Equally sagging his body over the handlebars was Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) looking not as sharp as he had up until the final meters of the stage.  The Colombian still sits in 11th on GC but only just over two minutes back.  While gaps opened today, the top 15 riders are still within three minutes of each other.

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 $90 USD including shipping, and yes, international shipping is available. 

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2022/3892728-40-294403/Painting/just-how-hard-tdf22-40.html

TDF, Stage 14: Moving Up

I just now realized that this title is a pun.  First, my intention was to capture an image of Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) as he raced in one of the leading groups on the road.  He was tucked in with some chasers of the leader and another small group on the road.  He had Omar Fraile (Astana-Premier Tech) and Elie Geshert (Arkea-Samsic) for company, amongst others, to help build his gap back to the Maillot Juane group.  The other interpretation of the title is that this shot was caught from the helicopter as it literally moved up from this group and went in search of the peloton.  His effort led to him moving from ninth place overall into second just over four minutes off the lead in second place.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at www.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 from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 USD plus shipping, and yes international shipping is available.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/2021-Tour-de-France/3823020-88-291436/Painting/moving-up-tdf21-87.html

Dauphine, Stage 3: Up and Chasing

 I feel like everytime I paint a race that includes Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) I paint some version of this image.  Again he was caught up in a realitively small crash with about 14 kilometers to go.  While he was quickly back up and onto his spare bike, it was a long hard chase to get back to the peloton.  He had half of the team to help him work his way back through the cars (and his own team car).  It was Nathan Hass, Kenneth Van Bilson, and Pierre-Luc Perichon who led the way.  I believe the rest of the team was behind having gone down with their team leader.  This race has been fairly crash free, although today saw the abandoment of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) due to an early crash.  Hopefully, Martin will not meet the same fate over night.

This is the thirteenth painting of this year's race, I sure hope I didn't jinx the French favorite.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at www.greigleach.com, or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above.  Since ti is an original work of art, it is a first come first seved reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburth watercolors from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 USD plus shipping, and yes international shipping is available.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814723-97-185083/Painting/up-and-chasing-cd21-13.html

Tour, Stage 15: Having to Chase, Again

Lady Luck has not been kind to the French in this year's Tour.  With Pinot crashing on day one, Bardet crashing out yesterday, and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) having the worst time crashes and mechanicals, all have slipped out of the GC hunt, or even out of the Tour itself.  At the base of the final climb, Martin had a flat and needed a wheel change.  He had Jesus Herrada to help pace him back (although he was dropping back after cracking from the early break).  Martin did get back before the fireworks started.  But the effort cost him dearly.  As the two Cofidis men went forward, it was Robert Gesnik (Jumbo-Visma) dropping back after leading the peloton over the preceeding two climbs, an amazing feet in and of itself.

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.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France-2020/3700460-100-282744/Painting/having-to-chase-again-tdf20-94.html

Tour, Stage 10: Bringing Guillaume Back

The saying goes that in the first week or so of the Tour, "You can win the Tour today, but you can lose it."  Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) has been having a great Tour starting the day in third overall on the general classification.  However, he was caught out by a late crash.  Fortunately, it didn't look like he was all that banged up, but he still had a hard chase to rejoin the peloton with 59 kilometers still to race.  Happily, he ended the day tucked in the main group with all of his GC rivals.

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.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France-2020/3696545-64-282744/Painting/bringing-buillaume-back-tdf20-59.html

Tour, Stage 9: Still Racing

With tons of guys dropping off of the pace on the final climb it was a true heart warming moment ot see Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) still on the back of the main peloton.  He was with quite a few other team leaders (just look for the bib numbers that end in 1) including Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis).  I was convinced that Thibaut would not come out to race today, so seeing him still with the leaders on the Col de Marie Blanque was truly impressive.  He did drop off a bit at the top, but nothing like yesterday.  His will is still very strong even if is back has let him down in this year's Tour.

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.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France-2020/3693443-57-282744/Painting/still-racing-tdf20-52.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: Inside the Peloton

Today was the first time I have seen rider mounted cameras sharing real time video from inside the peloton.  Kenneth Van Bielsen (Cofidis) had a small light camera mounted just under his stem and bike computer that was able to bounce the signal up to the satellite just like the TV Motos.  The low angle shot kind of features the butts of the riders, but then it is a view that I am familiar with.  Van Bielsen was tucked in behind Guillaume Martin and Bjorn Thurau (both Wanty-Groupe Gobert) as well as the leader of Ag2r La Mondiale, Romain Bardet.  This camera really gives the feel of what it is like to ride in a large group on the road.  Bravo, Dimension Data!

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from Jack Richeson & Company.  This painting, along with all of my cycling art, is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  While you are on the site, be sure to check out my other works of art and my two cycling books.  To purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.  Bear in mind that this is a one of a kind original and once it is gone, it is gone.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium%20du%20Dauphine/2805424-59-185083/Painting.html#.V1nQ_fkrLIU