Tour '26, Stage 6: Not Giving Up

Having been dropped by the peloton on the way up Col du Tourmalet, Torstein Traeen (Uno X-Mobility) was seconds away from losing his Maillot Jaune as he sped down the other side of the mountain.  As he approached a hard left turn, he overlapped his teammate's rear wheel in went down head-over-heals.  He struggled to get back up, but eventual got to the upright and to the side of the road.  He was checked out by the doctors and was cleared to ride on.  No one wants to go out of the race while in the Maillot Jaune.  He took his time but did finally get back on the bike and rode on to the end of the stage escorted by the very teammate who he ran into before crashing.  He rolled across the finish almost a half-hour after the stage winner with his teammate Anders Johannessen.  Clearly, he won't start tomorrow in yellow. The question remains will he be able to start stage 7 at all?

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: "Not Giving Up TdF26-44" (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

Learn More About the Artist → 

Tour '26, Stage 6: Dangling

As the peloton climbed the fabled Tourmalet the Maillot Jaune on the shoulders of Torstein Traeen (Uno X-Mobility) was dangling dangerously near the tail-end of the group.  You can see Anders Johannessen, looking back to check on his yellow clad teammate.  He wasn't the only one struggling he was on the wheels of Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarche) and riding shoulder to shoulder with Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).  While we were watching him at the back his Director Sportif, Thor Hushovd, he finally lost contact.  He does almost eight minutes or more on all of the favorites of the Tour, so he has some time to set matters to rights.

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: "Dangling TdF26-41" (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

Learn More About the Artist →  

Tour '26, Stage 5: Safe in the Peloton

Race commentators will refer to the "commentator's curse," meaning that as soon as they talk about the possibility of something going wrong, it often does.  I feel like this is my "artist curse."  Shortly after painting and titling this watercolor, there was a crash just outside of five kilometers to go that tied up all of those in this painting.  The location is important, if they were inside of five kilometers to go, they would have been given the same time as the finishing time of those they were with.  In this case, that means the time of the entire peloton.  As it happened, the Maillot Jaune of Torstein Traeen (Uno X-Mobility) along with his teammate Tobias Johannessen were able to catch back onto the tail of the peloton as they reached Pau.  In fact, everyone here including Edoardo Affini and his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas Vingegaard along with Nils Politt and his UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac Del Toro were all given the same time thus saving everyone's position in the general classification.  Naturally, that means the Traeen holds his Maillot Jaune for a second day, only Vingegaard has managed to keep yellow for more than one day thus far this 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 $99 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

Purchase this painting here: "Safe in the Peloton TdF26-36" (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

Learn More About the Artist → 

Tour '26, Stage 4: Who Is Where?

First, I admit that I take pleasure that the two Americans in this painting are both Quinns.  Silly, I know, but then so am I (at times).  Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) looks back to see where is rival to take the Maillot Jaune today is.  Both he and the Norwegian Torstein Traeen (Uno X-Mobility) have a very strong chance of being the next to pull on the Maillot Jaune with they reach Foix.  Quinn will have to gain thirty-three seconds on Traeen to have the honor of the Yellow Jersey.  Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) is looking back to make sure his team's sprinter Mads Pedersen is still in the group.  I am sure he would love to win the stage for himself, but he and another teammate are there for their sprinter to have the best chance at a stage win and claiming the Maillot Vert.  Mixing it with the Americans and the Norwegian are Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) along six other hopefuls.  I should point out here that Traeen did gain enough time to claim the Maillot Jaune with an almost eight-minute advantage over Tadej Pogacar.  Sean Quinn sits in second 28 seconds behind the Norwegian. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), also a member of the breakaway, rounds out the third step of the podium in Foix.

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: "Who Is Where? TdF26-28" (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

Learn More About the Artist →