Richmond 2015 UCI Worlds: Leading the Chase

With less than two laps to go and a break up the road without a German teammate in it, Andre Greipel went to the front to chase it down.  The break had some really strong men in it including the about to be former World Champion, Michael Kwiatkowski (assuming he doesn't stay away), Elia Vivianni (Italy), Daniel Moreno (Spain), and of course the three that started the move, Bauke Mollema (Netherlands), Tom Boonen (Belgium), and Ian Stannard (UK).  The flat sections off of Monument Avenue through the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, plus the down hill section of downtown to the river was well suited for the strengths of the big German sprinter.  I guess we now know that the team is working for John Degenkolb.  Tucked right onto the wheel of the big German is the American Tyler Farrar, another sprinter playing the roll of super domestique.  The American team missed the power move as well.

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.  The works were done live in the middle of the Fanfest area across from the awards podium as the racing was going on.  Prints and the originals will be available before very long at www.richmond.com (the website of the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper).

Giro d'Italia Stage 7: The Chase Is Now On

The peloton waited until it crested the only categorized climb of the day, about 39 kilometers from the end of the stage to take up the chase of the break away in earnest.  The teams with hopes of putting their sprinter first across the line at the end of the day wanted to make sure their fast man could stay in the peloton up and over the climb, before they started doing the work to catch the escapees.  Once over the top and through the short tunnel, Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing) and Simon Geschke (Giant Shimano) went to the front and drove the pace on the descent.  Notice that behind these two are the Orica GreenEdge men, Luke Durbridge and Michael Matthews resplendent in pink riding at the front to avoid any other crashes like the one that so covered the peloton in road rash or worse.  Beppu's pace was enough to gap the rest of the peloton at first, but they soon came down the back side of the climb in one very long single file line.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that is available for purchase through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  For this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Giro%20d'Italia%202014/2364869---198213/Painting.html#.U3cl-c_D_IU

Tour Down Under: The Chase Is On, Final Stage

Team Sky decided it was time to go get the three man break away before they grabbed the bonus seconds from the first intermediate sprint.  Their man, Richie Porte, started the day in 4th place needing to gain only four seconds to get on to the final podium.  Surprisingly, after two laps they hadn't put anytime into the trio up the road so they threw in the towel.  This is an original watercolor and ink postcard that could be yours by visiting my artist web site at www.greigleach.com or you could just follow the direct link at the end of this post.

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20Down%20Under%202014/2299299---194179/Painting.html#.UuXGm8so7IU