The Art of Cycling

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Dauphine, Stage 4: Keeping Yellow

It is said that the Yellow Jeresy gives a rider wings. That may or may not be true, but it did help Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) laid down a great ride in today's time trial. The Austrian started the day with a two second lead over the sprinter, Sonny Colbrelli. The Italian wasn't too much concern in a hilly time trial (although he did an excellent ride on his own), but the GC riders were all hunting both the stage victory and to take over Postlberger's yellow kit. So it was that Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) took the stage, but wasn't able to dislodge the Maillot Jaune. Postlberger will start stage 5 still in yellow, but only by one second. And the others are lining up behind with the main contenders all within a minute of the current race leader.

This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available through my website at www.greigleach.com, or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of the post to purchase the painting above. Since ti is an original work of art, it is a first come first seved reality. The painting was created using Yarka St. Petersburth watercolors from www.Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 USD plus shipping, and yes international shipping is available.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814956-104-185083/Painting/keeping-yellow-cd21-20.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: Outta' No Where

Ion Izaguirre (Astana-Premier Tech) caught everyone by surprise including Bob Roll who is covering the race for NBC Sports. The Spanish rider on the Kazakh team times had not been aired, nor had we seen him out on course for the entire broadcast. But here he suddenly was, about to post the best time as he crossed the line by over seven seconds. He ended the day taking second on the stage, just beat out by his teammate Alexey Lutsenko. His effort also left him in fourth place in the general classification, ahead of the only guy to best him today.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814866-103-185083/Painting/outta-no-where-cd21-19.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: Fighting All of the Way

Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) fought for every second has he completed the 9.4 kilometer time trial course. Quintana is not known for being a master of the race against the clock, but he did well enough to keep within striking distance in the coming mountains. He gave up a minute to some of the other main contenders but that could be fixed in on could day in his preferred terrain.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814864-102-185083/Painting/fighting-all-of-the-way-cd21-18.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: On His Way

Steven Kruijswijk (Lotto Soudal) is just getting started on course. As he had a teammate just ahead of him he was able to monitor just how he was doing. While he ended up with a decent ride, it wasn't enough for the top ten on either the stage on the general classification. Jumbo-Visma puts a lot of faith in him, but I donn't remember seeing him getting great results in the past. He is always there or there abouts, but never quite claiming the top step of the podium. He made it a bit harder to achieve that today.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814860-101-185083/Painting/on-his-way-cd21-17.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: On Form

Richie Porte (Ineos-Grenadiers) clearly came to this Dauphine on form. He had the best time at the intermediate check and came in with the best time when he finished his effort. I was a little surprised that the French TV directors didn't put a moto camera out on course with the Tasmanian. I had to break my "no helicopter shot" rule inorder to get any paintings of one of my favorite riders. I know it is a silly self imposed rule, so I don't mind breaking it every once in awhile. His effort in the time trial put him into 7th overall, just 18 seconds off of the race lead. He is a full eight seconds ahead of his team's designated GC man, Geraint Thomas.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814854-100-185083/Painting/on-form-cd21-16.html

Dauphine, Stage 4: Cutting Corners

Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious) cut the corner at the top of this climb rather close as he looked for the quickest way around the 16.4 kilometer time trial course. It is a bit risky coming close to the fans along the side of the road. It was way back in the days of Lance Armstrong when the American was brought down by a shopping bag of a fan hooking his handlebars. He was later brought down by much bigger problems, but then you most likely know all about that already. Teuns put in a good ride today but didn't factor into the over all on the stage or the general classification.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814851-99-185083/Painting/cutting-corners-dc21-15.html

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Dauphine, Stage 3: Finally!

"Finally!" That had to be on the lips of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) as he took his third mass sprint in a row. However, this time it was for stage honors. The last two sprints had been after a sole rider had already crossed the line seconds ahead of the closing peloton. Unable to get around the Italian were Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo). McNulty was smart to grab some bonus seconds towards his general classification aspirations. Stuyven may have been left wondering how he could have fared had he not been forced to chase back to the peloton earlier. And then while relieved, Colbrelli fell just two seconds shy of claiming the Maillot Jaune with this victory, but he did increase his lead in the Maillot Vert competition.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814735-98-185083/Painting/finally-cd21-14.html

Dauphine, Stage 3: Up and Chasing

I feel like everytime I paint a race that includes Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) I paint some version of this image. Again he was caught up in a realitively small crash with about 14 kilometers to go. While he was quickly back up and onto his spare bike, it was a long hard chase to get back to the peloton. He had half of the team to help him work his way back through the cars (and his own team car). It was Nathan Hass, Kenneth Van Bilson, and Pierre-Luc Perichon who led the way. I believe the rest of the team was behind having gone down with their team leader. This race has been fairly crash free, although today saw the abandoment of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) due to an early crash. Hopefully, Martin will not meet the same fate over night.

This is the thirteenth painting of this year's race, I sure hope I didn't jinx the French favorite.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814723-97-185083/Painting/up-and-chasing-cd21-13.html

Dauphine, Stage 3: Pilot Fish

It is the Irish time trial specialist, Ryan Mullen, that is serving as the pilot fish for his teammate Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). Stuyven was the team's hope for the anticipated sprint finale. But with an apparent mechanical, it was Mullen who was tasked with bringing the Belgium sprinter back through the caravan of cars and onto the tail of the peloton. With 27 kilometers still to race, he would have plenty of time to recover from this effort and to be ready for the next. With the team director's car just ahead, they knew they were almost back.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814721-96-185083/Painting/pilot-fish-cd21-12.html

Dauphine, Stage 3: Maybe a Few K More

Little hard to tell if Loic Vliegen (Intermache-Wanty Gobert) was being cheeky, or if he just had the legs to keep trying to stay away. With the peloton closing in, he sprinted away from his erstwhile break away companion in hopes of staying away for a little bit longer. With 28 kilometers to go, and some very hungry sprinters behind him, all he could hope to achieve was the title of most aggressive rider for the day. That, and some more screen time for his team's sponsors.

https://www.greigleach.com/large-multi-view/Criterium-du-Dauphine/3814696-95-185083/Painting/maybe-a-few-k-more-cd21-11.html