Tour de France 23, Stage 3: Easiest Alone

Yesterday's stage winner, Victor Lafay (Cofidis) decided he would to what he could to stay in the Maillot Vert of points leader for at least one more stage.  With two guys still up the road, he attacked the peloton prior to the intermediate sprint in Deba to pick up as many points as possible.  Knowing that there would be a mass dash for both this sprint and the finale, I guess he thought I have a much better chance of winning from a group of one.  It turned out to be the right move.  He didn't factor in the finale coming in 64th, but held enough points to be tied with the stage winner (more about that later).  And that was enough for him to hold onto Green.

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 painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3963454-14-297438/Painting/easiest-alone-tdf23-14.html

 

Tour de France 23, Stage 2: Fifteen Years!

I original wrote the title as "Sixteen Years!" because that was how long Phil Liggett said it had been since Cofidis had won a stage in the Tour de France.  As a French team, that is a terrible stat!  It is slightly better, it has been fifteen years (I reworked the title after photographing the painting). Victor Lafay (Cofidis) took full advantage of his outsider status, jumping from the back of the group with one kilometer to go.  Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) had chased everyone else down, so he didn't jump right away perhaps because he was confident that Lafay didn't have the legs to hold them all off.  Clearly, Wout miscalculated.  After the finish he pounded his handlebars in frustration.  Taking third (again) was Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) but that meant even more bonus seconds on the day.  Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) did well to come back from his first attempt to finish fifth, and you can just make out Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) finishing in seventh over Lafay's right shoulder.  Tomorrow the race will cross back into France in a day seemingly tailor made for the sprinters.  Will Cav get the magical 35th stage win in the Tour de France?

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 painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $95 USD including shipping, but yes international shipping is both available and extra.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-de-France--Tour-de-France-Femmes-2023/3963336-12-297438/Painting/fifteen-years-tdf23-12.html

 

Tour Down Under '23, Stage 2: Bringing Their Man Back

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) had an ill-timed mechanical.  With just 25 kilometers to race nearly his whole team came back to help pull him back up to the tail of the peloton.  Davide Cimolai had just swung off having done what he could, leaving the effort to Andre Carvalho (and the team car).  On Lafay's wheel is Harrison Wood holding himself in reserve for the final effort to get Cofidis' best general classification hope back into the front group.  They did get there in the end finishing with the main peloton just 11 seconds off of the time of the stage winner.

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 painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors and Steve Quiller brushes from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $90 USD including shipping, and yes, international shipping is available. 

If you can't afford to purchase a piece you could always help keep me going by buying me a cup of coffee at buymeacoffee.com/greigsartc.  And check out my vlogs at my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGX-TnjXDSkkOidUE6pN1g 

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Tour-Down-Under/3928090-158-194179/Painting/bringing-their-man-back-tdu23-12.html