The Art of Cycling

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Paris Nice '25, Stage 5: Three Americans

It is a rare sight in pro cycling to see three Americans (as in citizens of the United States) leading the peloton in Europe. It is particularly rare for those three to be vying for both stage and race honors. But here we are, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) ride shoulder to shoulder inside of the final kilometer of the summit finish. On their right is Magnus Sheffield (Ineos-Grenadiers). They are followed up the climb by Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana), and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor). Who will it be taking out the stage, and perhaps pulling on the Maillot Juane on the podium.

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.

"Three Americans PN25-21" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Happily, this painting has sold.

Paris Nice '25, Stage 5: You Coming?

Despite the lone leader taking the maximum points (and bonus seconds) at the intermediate sprint just meters ahead, it would help those behind to gain what bonuses were still available. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) attempts to lead out his teammate Mattias Skjelmose - currently in the Maillot Blanc - to gain important time on the guy just behind Skjelmose in that competition. Instead, as he looked back and found Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on his wheel instead. The problem is that is the very man chasing his teammate for that white jersey. Since Skjelmose couldn't make the move, Pedersen kept sprinting thus limiting the seconds Lipowitz could gain. It didn't really matter, Skjelmose was about to lose big time on the final climb anyway. Watching it all in the catbird seat is Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) mildly disappointed not to gain anytime himself. But then he is chasing his own teammate to retake the Maillot Jaune.

"You Coming? PN25-20" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 5: Alone, Again

As I mentioned in my previous post, Tobias Foss (Ineos-Grenadiers) jumped free of the peloton to join his teammate Ben Swift and Swift's breakaway companion. When the trio hit the base of the penultimate climb of the day, Foss went off on a long solo run to the finish. So, for the second day in a row, this former Norwegian champion was making a brave effort to win on his own ahead of a chasing peloton. Alas, just like yesterday, he was caught (and dropped) on the final climb up to a summit finish. He ended up finishing around 35th on the stage, a minute and three-quarters behind the stage winner. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"Alone, Again PN25-19" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 5: A Bit of an Advantage

Apparently, I dropped a word when I wrote out the title, it should read "A Bit of an Advantage." Ah, the downside of painting live and in the moment. The duo of Ben Swift (Ineos-Grenadiers) and Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ) continued to hold a small advantage in the closing kilometers of stage five. The two swapped going over the ensuing summits with this one going to the Frenchman. Shortly after I painted this, Swift's teammate Tobias Foss jumped free of the peloton in his efforts to bridge to these two.

"A Bit of an Advantage PN25-18" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Getting Some Back

Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) jumped out of the chasers to claim victory atop La Loge des Gardes becoming the next member of his team to beat Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on this climb. For his part, Vingegaard's second place on the stage was enough for him to take the Maillot Jaune off of the shoulders of his teammate, dropping Matteo Jorgenson into second place by a mere five seconds. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) claiming third and a few bonus seconds moved him into the Maillot Blanc of the best young rider. Just behind Skjelmose is Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Martinez). The title comes from the fact the Almeida and his team didn't have a great team time trial, so this victory moves him back into contention for the final yellow jersey, since he moved up thirteen places on the GC. He now sits thrity-seven seconds off of the lead in fifth place.

"Getting Some Back PN25-17" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Taking His Shot

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had been covering each attack on the climb of La Loge des Gardes theoretically in aide of his team leader and the Maillot Jaune, Matteo Jorgenson. He then decided he should go ahead and press on his own. Either Jorgenson had let him and the team know that he didn't have the legs today, or Vingegaard wanted to shine on this climb after basically losing the Tour de France on this hill last year. Regardless, he has about seven seconds on the ragtag remnants of the peloton with about seven hundred meters left to climb.

"Taking His Shot PN25-16" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Attacking on the Final Climb

With everyone warmed back up, the sun back out, and most of the breakaway caught, it was time for the general classification guys to fight it out on the final climb. The first to attack on La Loge des Gardes was the current Maillot Blanc (although you can't see it for the rain gear), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). He was quickly covered by the guy in second place in the young rider's competion, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Of course, both Matteo Jorgenson (hidden) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) weren't about to let the move go, either.

"Attacking on the Final Climb PN25-15" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Preparing to Start Again

Once the race had reached the valley, the weather had improved enough to restart the race. The difficulty was gathering everyone back together. Many had ridden the descent very slowly, so that needed to get everyone massed together in order to restart the race. The other issue was recreating the gaps that had existed between the three main groups when the race was neutralized. Now, the break had restarted, with the next to go being the two guys in red, Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling (Ineos-Grenadiers) about a minute and a half minutes later. Standing with them were two riders from EF Education-EasyPost who would have to wait another minute or so to restart with the rest of the peloton. It was a mess, but no one was hurt in the icy conditions.

"Preparing to Start Again PN25-14" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Neutralized

While watching an inset interview, I started to notice wet snow falling on the riders in the coverage of the race. When the broadcasting team of Christian VandeVelde and Bob Roll came back on air, they notice the weather and started to worry for the riders' safety. They weren't the only ones. With slush building on the road surface, it became too dangerous for the peloton to face the looming descent in just a few kilometers from now. The decision was made to pause the racing and let the peloton ride slowly down the mountain and into warmer temperatures. In the pouring ice, snow, and rain, the commissare went to the front of the peloton and let them know. Naturally, that built in quite a bit of confusion, that took some time to sort. At this point, it was snowing rather heavily on the finishing line at the top of the final climb. I should know that one of the Gendarme crashed his motorcycle on the descent as well as one of the team cars for Decathlon-Ag2r-La Mondiale. Clearly, the neutralization was the correct decision.

"Neutralized PN25-13" (Original art by Greig Leach)

Paris Nice '25, Stage 4: Up to Something

With another fifty-four kilometers to race, it was a bit odd to see the Ineos-Grenadiers duo of Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling go on the attack out of the peloton. The two were chasing a group of eight riders still up the road from the early breakaway. The race still had three more climbs including the mountain top finish to race. I have to assume that the team had some grand plan they wanted to enact for their race leader in hopes of pulling back time lost in yesterday's team time trial.

"Up to Something PN25-12" (Original art by Greig Leach)