Doha 2016, Elite Men's Road Race, Giving It a Go!

The Dutch team may have missed the split, but it didn't mean they had thrown in the towel.  It was now clear that the winner was going to come from the front group, and it would have to be a strong sprinter if the group stayed together.  The two Dutchmen that had made the group did a punch counter punch move.  First Niki Terpstra (Netherlands) went on the attack, an attack that was quickly shut down by the Belgium team.  Almost as soon as Terpstra was contained, Tom Leezer launched a brilliant counter.  Leezer quickly opened up about five seconds on the clearly exhaust group.  With just two and a half kilometer left to race, it was looking like this was the winning move.  Sadly for Leezer, the Belgium Team and Michal Kolar (Slovakia) wanted to give their sprinters the chance for the win.  With just about 500 meter left to go, Leezer found himself back into the fast charging lead group.  With the accelerations, a few dropped off the tail, including all but one (Ryan Roth - Canada) of the original break away.

This is a small watercolors and ink painting measuring just 4"x6" and was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.richesonart.com.  This painting and all of my Olympics artwork will be 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.  It is only $75 USD and international shipping is available.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Doha%202016%20UCI%20Road%20World%20Championships/2866447-65-227958/PaintingGiving%20It%20a%20Go!%20Doha65-Greig-Leach.html#.WAUV1-ArLIU

Doha 2016, Elite Men's Road Race: Not Much Left

All of those who got to the finish line (and even those who were pulled before hand) were completely drained by the toughness of the race, the weather, and the length of the race.  With just five kilometers to race, it seemed no one was able to launch an attack.  Many of those still in this group were not going to be able to out sprint the champions of the sport including three former World Champions, Tom Boonen (Belgium), Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) and Peter Sagan (Slovakia).  Yet, no one had yet to jump out of the long line of sweating riders being lead by Truls Korsaeth (Norway), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Giacomo Nizzolo, Jacopo Guarnieri (Italy) and the only two Dutchmen to make this group, Niki Terpstra and Tom Leezer.

This is a small watercolors and ink painting measuring just 4"x6" and was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.richesonart.com.  This painting and all of my Olympics artwork will be 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.  It is only $75 USD and international shipping is available.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Doha%202016%20UCI%20Road%20World%20Championships/2866446-64-227958/PaintingNot%20Much%20Left%20Doha64-Greig-Leach.html#.WAURKuArLIU

Tour Stage 6: No Place to Hide

Northern France, known as the "Bread Basket" is wide open and flat.  Not the best circumstance for the break away, their chances are much better when the road helps to hide them from view.  That didn't stop Jerome Pineau (IAM Cycling), Tom Leezer (Belkin Pro Cycling), Luis Mate (Cofidis) and Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne-Seche) from trying to beat the odds.  Jens Voigt explains why riders go in the break away by saying, "If you go for the break you have maybe a 10% chance of wining the stage, if you don't go you have a 0% chance."  Then their is the TV air time for the team sponsors to be considered in the equation.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website, www.greigleach.com.  It will also be part of my soon to be self-published cycling art book, "Book de Tour".  To learn more about the book project, to pre-order your copy, and to find out how to be involved in bring this artistic story of the 101st Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour  If you would like to purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2400092---199992/Painting.html#.U78lk8_D_IU