Ronde van Drenthe: With Arms Stretched Wide

It was a small select peloton that entered the final kilometer of Ronde van Drenthe.  The multiple corners and roundabouts made it difficult for the Wiggle Honda sprint train to get organized, but get organized they did.  It was with well order precision that they delivered there fast woman, Jolien D'Hoore, at full speed so she could show some fierce sprinting legs and her Belgium National Champion's Jersey.  Chapeau!

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that 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.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Professional%20Women's%20Cycling/2526230---207546/Painting.html#.VQZ0HY7F-xU

Ronde van Drenthe: Are They Coming?

After attacking each other over and over, the next to get away were the foursome of Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle Honda), Chantel Blaak (Boels Dolman), Jeanne Korevaar (National Team Netherlands) and Tiffany Cromwell (Velocio-SRAM).  The group got up to 28 seconds on the peloton but it was Borghini who kept looking back over her shoulder trying to see if the others were closing on them.  Alas, this group was caught just like every other escape artist who had taken her shot.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that 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.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Professional%20Women's%20Cycling/2526228---207546/Painting.html#.VQZyFI7F-xU

Ronde van Drenthe: Leaving Then All Behind

Today's racing was extremely aggressive with rider after rider charging off of the front of the ever dwindling peloton.  This time it was Barbara Guarischi (Velocio-SRAM), who pushed off on her own.  Unfortunately for her, the long straight roads didn't give her much of a place to hide from the group.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that 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.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Professional%20Women's%20Cycling/2526226---207546/Painting.html#.VQZv6Y7F-xU

Ronde van Drenthe: Leading Them Up the Rise

Lizzie Armistead (Boels Dolman) was joined by her teammates including Chantel Blaak as they made the penultimate climb of the day.  Armistead had obviously identified this section of the short narrow climb to try and stamp or authority on the race.

This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that 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.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Professional%20Women's%20Cycling/2526224---207546/Painting.html#.VQZuP47F-xU

Ronde van Drenthe: Stopping to Help

One of the things I feel I need to work on is helping to bring attention to Professional Women's Cycling and just how exciting the sport is to watch.  The problem, finding access to video coverage.  I was delighted this evening to find coverage of the Ronde van Drenthe on YouTube this evening.  So here is my second foray into cyclisme feminine, the first being the inaugural running of La Course on the final day of the 2014 Tour de France.

The first piece of video showed a very large crash with riders going off into the muddy ditches on each side of the narrow roadway.  Something I have never seen the men do was Claudia Lictenberg (Liv Plantir), who had not crashed, going down into the ditch to help Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolman) out of the mud and into a slightly more comfortable position.  Lictenberg then got back up to the road and road off to rejoin the peloton.  Guarnier's day was done as the medics took over her care.

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.  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.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Professional%20Women%27s%20Cycling/2526222-1-0-207546/Painting/Sports.html#.VQZsIo7F-xU