Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 4: Hard at Work

As I was waiting for a good image to paint Sara Martin (Movistar) who was off the front of the peloton with another sixty kilometers to race, I spotted this "Men at Work" sign.  Clearly, Martin isn't a man but she is certainly hard at work trying to stay away.  Oddly, she wasn't off the front when the Queen of the Mountain points were on offer, so she must have gone after the fourth climb of the day.  The next prize on the road is the intermediate sprint.  Perhaps she will be able to hold off the sprinters and get the maximum points and the cash prize, too.  Side note: She did!

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Hard at Work TdFF24-16" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 3: Fighting to Keep Yellow

Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) went for the full yellow kit for the second stage of the day perhaps fearing that it would be her last chance to don the Maillot Jaune.  She fought valiantly to stay in yellow but just came up against some very strong women.  Plus she had won the sprint in this morning's stage claiming her second stage and doing it in the Maillot Jaune.  She finished thirty-third on the day dropping her to fifth overall, but she is still only five seconds off of the new leader's overall time.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Fighting to Keep Yellow TdFF24-15" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 3: Equally Fast

The defending Tour de France Femmes champion, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) was on a hot ride in the individual time trial this afternoon.  She matched the current leader's time at the split which is when I painted this piece.  Yet, she gained another five seconds in the remaining three kilometers of the stage!  That is stunning, she finished the day besting Chloe Dygert by just over five seconds.  Not only did she claim the stage, she also claimed the Maillot Jaune of race leader.  She holds that same five seconds over Dygert who is now in third on the general classification.  It is her teammate Lorena Wiebes who is in second just three seconds off of her lead.  Logically that moves her team into the team classification lead as well.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Equally Fast TdFF24-14" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 3: Really Close!

When I stopped the video to paint (and title) this, I didn't know yet if Chloe Dygert (Canyon/SRAM) had posted the new best time or not.  She had.  The World Champion in the Women's Individual Time Trial had managed to claim the lead when she finished by the slimmest of margins, a mere 0.019 seconds over Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez).  But a win is a win, or so she thought until one more rider cross the line.  This ride gave her second on the day and moved her into third on the general classification.  She certainly honored the Rainbow Stripes.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Really Close! TdFF24-13" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 3: Riding Around Town

This title is a bit of an understatement.  While it is true that today's second stage was an individual time trial around the downtown streets of Rotterdam, it wasn't remotely a calm noodling around a city center.  The newly crowned Olympic Road Race Gold Medalist, Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatley-Cannondale) was flying around the course just barely missing the hot seat by less than three quarters of a second.  Her finish time was enough for her to hold onto fifth place on the second stage of the day.  I should note that she also won a gold medal in the Olympic Track Cycling Team Pursuit.  She is here with two others from that gold medal winning team, but neither are on her trade team today.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Riding Around Town TdFF24-12" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 3: Head Down & Go!

With the time check just on the other side of this bridge, it was time for Ellen Van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) to put her head down and go as fast as she can.  She was on a good ride.  She came in just one second of the best time as she finished her individual time trial.  She did drop to sixth place for the stage, the second of the day, after everyone had their go around the streets of Rotterdam.  She was only 6 3/4 seconds off of the stage winner's time over the six kilometer course.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Head Down & Go! TdFF24-11" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 2: Winning in Yellow

As expected the short flat sixty-nine kilometer stage ended in a bunch sprint in downtown Rotterdam.  Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) looked like she had the sprint in the bag as she held of Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the Maillot Vert.  But both were surprised when Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) jumped out from behind them both and flew to the line.  When she was interviewed after the opening stage she had said that she had to goals.  One she had achieved, winning the Yellow Jersey.  The other was to win a stage wearing the Maillot Jaune.  It could be argued that no matter what else happens, she has already had her dream Tour de France Femmes.  Behind that trio it was Lotta Henttala (EF-Oatley-Cannondale) in fourth and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) rounding out the top five of the stage.  

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Winning in Yellow TdFF24-10" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 2: You Okay?

There are many reasons that I love women's cycling, but mainly I love it because of the compassion that the riders feel for each other.  And that they take the opportunity to show it to each other.  Admittedly, this was inside of the final three kilometers that there was a pile up of riders as they crossed one of the many bridges in downtown Rotterdam so there was no risk of losing time.  Nevertheless, it was nice to see Josie Talbot (Cofidis) reach down to check on Amber Pate (Liv-Alula-Jayco) before getting back to racing.  Pate seemed to appreciate the gesture, claimed she was fine, and found her mechanic and a new bike fairly quickly.  All of the riders who went down, got up and finished the stage.  Unfortunately for them, they have an individual time trial in just a few hours time.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"You Okay? TdFF24-9" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 2: Losing the Tail

With another eleven kilometers to race back into Rotterdam it was Nafosat Kozieva (Tashkent City Women's Pro Cycling) losing contact with the peloton.  Never a good feeling to watch the Shimano Neutral Service vehicle leave you behind.  She should finish the stage still with the following caravan of team cars.  It has been a rough race for her team with four of her teammates not finishing the first stage of this Tour de France Femmes.  Perhaps this Continental level team is a bit out of their class for this race.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Losing the Tail TdFF24-8" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Tour de France Femmes '24, Stage 2: Going It Alone

With no intermediate sprints nor queen of the mountain points out on course, there wasn't much reason to be off the front in today's short road stage.  Well, there is that most combative rider award, and since Audrey de Keersmaeker (Lotto Dstny) was the only one to escape the peloton at all, it is clearly going to be hers for Stage 2.  She built up almost twenty seconds on those behind but with another thirty-three kilometers left to race they have already pulled her back to fourteen seconds advantage.  With a mass sprint on offer, she isn't going to be off the front for too much longer.

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 $95 USD including shipping, but, yes, international shipping is both available and extra.

"Going It Alone TdFF24-7" (Original art by Greig Leach)