Tour '24, Stage 12: Bringing Roglic Home

It was hard seeing a big pile up of riders due to a ridiculous high curb in the middle of the roadway inside of the last ten kilometers.  An Astana-Qazaqstan rider got caught and went down in the middle of the peloton.  He took out a number of riders and delayed many others.  The first guy to go down over the Astana bike was Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).  Unlike his much softer crash yesterday, this crash was well outside of the three kilometer (or four or five) so he won't be getting the same time as who he was with when he went down.  Most of his team came back to help pace him back to the peloton.  He was led home by Bob Jungels, Marco Haller, Nico Denz and Danny Van Poppel.  They weren't able to go full gas and get him in quick enough for him to keep his fourth place in the general classification.  I think he wasn't able to ride hard and was most likely injured more than his bloody shoulder might indicate.  He dropped to sixth place.  But more importantly is he okay and will he be able to take to the start line tomorrow?

Update: Roglic didn't start Stage 13 and is therefore out of 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 work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Bringing Roglic Home TdF24-70" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour Down Under, Stage 3: One of Seven

As the title would imply, the early break today was seven riders strong.  One of the surprise members was Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick Step), the former leader of the race and the current points leader, he was hoping to hold onto that jersey and perhaps to retake the lead.  At this point he was the virtual leader.  Along with the Italian were Manuele Boaro (Astana), Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale), Nic Dlamini (Dimension Data), Leo Vincent (Groupama-FDJ), James Whelan (EF Education First), and Nicholas White (UniSA-Australia).  With such a big group with so many different teams represented, it was hard to figure who was going to chase down this break.  But the virtual leader did put a little pressure on Team CCC to give chase.

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-Down-Under/3285440-126-194179/PaintingOne-of-Seven--TDU19-8.html

Giro, Stage 15: Choosing His Line

Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale) gave a text book demsonstration of how to descend a mountain today.  His drop off of the Passo di Sant'Antoino opened up a sizable gap on his erstwhile break away companions.  However his speed down the mountain left him alone as he crossed the valley floot.  There was a great helicopter shot of the descent where you could see him about six turns ahead of the peloton as they all snaked their way down the mountain.  They may have been quite close together by the way the crow flies, but they were almost two minutes apart on the road.

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.

Apparently, my website has decided not to let me load images today.  If you are interested in this painting, please email me at greigsart@gmail.com.  All payments can be routed through PayPal for your security, and mine.

Giro, Stage 15: LIttle Help

As the break away group reached the top of the Passo Tre Croci, Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale) reached out to a soigneur for Katusha-Alpecin to get a bidon.  Kindly, the soigneur obliged.  The teams, racers and team personnel spend a lot of time together traveling around the world during the season.  I am sure they all get to know one another, and realized they are all doing something very unique and extremely difficult.  There is considerably more displays of sportsmanship that meanness during a grand tour, than in almost any other athletic competition.  Along with Denz, his teammate Mikael Cherel, Dayer Quintana (Movistar) and Giulo Ciccone (Bardiani CSF) were hoping they would be in the break away that stayed clear to the end of the stage.  It didn't.

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.

Apparently, my website has decided not to let me load images today.  If you are interested in this painting, please email me at greigsart@gmail.com.  All payments can be routed through PayPal for your security, and mine.

Giro, Stage 10: Just Enough Left

The two best descenders in the front group used their skill on the wet final descent to get away from all who would bring them back (or bridge across).  Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) had chased down, and dropped, a number of earlier escapees.  Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale) was the only one who could stay with the Slovenian having caught him on the down hill stretches.  Denz had but everything into staying with Mohoric, so much so that he just didn't have enough to sprint around the Italian at the line in Gualdo Tadino.  With the exception of Estaban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), not much changed in the GC, but tomorrow looks like a day for some fireworks.

I have to attend an event at my old high school tomorrow where I will be honored in the school's Art of Fame hallway.  I plan to paint stage 11 on Thursday and then pick back up with stage 13 on Friday.

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/3163246-47-249297/PaintingJust-Enough-Left--G18-47.html