Paris Roubaix Femmes '26: Getting Off the Front

Despite not going live with the race coverage until just 50 kilometers in the women's Paris Roubaix, there was still a lot of racing (and cobbles) yet to go.  Just before the coverage came on air, this foursome led by the defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) had managed to get off the front of the main peloton.  Her move was covered by her teammate, Marianne Vos, along with the Hungarian champion, Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and the German champion, Franziska Koch (FDJ United-SUEZ).  With just over 44 kilometers to Roubaix, they have opened up a sixteen second advantage over the other hopefuls.

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.

"Getting Off the Front PRF26-1" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 5: It's Me

I first encountered Blanka Vas (Visma-Lease a Bike) in this year's Paris Olympics, when she and her pro team teammate Marianne Vos were off the front of the women's road race with less than ten kilometers to race.  She ended up getting out sprinted by Vos and Lotte Kopecky (who isn't in this race).  All three had been out maneuvered by Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatley-Cannondale) who won the Gold.  Vas knew what Faulkner had done just two weeks ago, so she wasn't going to lose to the American Champion again.  Today Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) waited to sprint but was still beaten by the Hungarian champion.  She dropped her head in disappointment with not winning the stage, only to learn later that she had taken over the Maillot Jaune, a long searched for accomplishment.  Taking third on the day was Liane Lippert (Movistar).  Faulkner was equally disappointed to miss the podium for this stage, but it did work out that she now sits second in the general classification just nineteen seconds behind Niewiadoma.  All of these new GC positions were created by a crash with just over five kilometers left to race.  The crash took down the Maillot Jaune.  While she was able to finish, Demi Vollering (Visma-Lease a Bike) lost almost two minutes.  The race also ended the Tour for three; Spela Kern (Cofidis), Magdaleine Valleries (EF-Oatley-Cannondale), and Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL).  Let's all hope that their injuries aren't too severe and that they will recover quickly.

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.

"It's Me TdFF24-26" (Original art by Greig Leach)