Normally, I avoid painting the wrecks of the Tour. It isn't what excites me about watching the race. In fact I called out as I was watching this very scary crash play out. Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step) was flying down the back side of the Col de Portet d'Aspet when he locked up his rear wheel in a sharp left turn. He tried valiantly to regain control put the stone wall was just too near. As he hit the wall, he came off the bike, used his hands to avoid hitting the wall with his head, and then dropped out of sight. Amazingly, he wasn't seriously hurt. As he got ready to remount, he gave a wink and a thumbs up to the camera. (That is part of the reason I painted this, it ended up alright)
Ironically, he went over the wall almost exactly where Fabio Casterelli crashed in 1995. Sadly, on that occasion, Casterelli did not survive. This was before helmets were mandatory in the peloton, but was one of the prinicple reasons that they are now.
The two rivals for the ultimate King of the Mountains prize are two Frenchmen, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step) and Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic). The pair were crossing swords from the very first climb of the day and were still at it over the Col de Portet d'Aspet. Alaphilippe, already in the Maillot a Pois kept getting the better of his countryman, adding to his tally point by point. Alaphilippe's teammate, Philippe Gilbert, had taken first over the climb and was already flying down the other side of the mountain. Behind these two, another 39 guys struggled to hold wheels with another nine minutes back to the relaxed peloton.
This is the painting from today that you can watch come to life on my YouTube channel. I hope you will watch it here, but also will subscribe to the channel when you do. I need to get more subscribers so I can name my channel.
As it would be expected, the three riders with teammates in the final leading group, were who was able to come to the line to contest the sprint. The two without were out gunned in the closing kilometers. The trio of Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) and Jon Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida) had time in hand to shadow each other prior to launching the sprint. Izaquirre took a peek back over his shoulder, making sure the others were closing in in the final couple of hundred meters. As Mollema looked back, Nielsen opened up his sprint. After playing cat and mouse, forcing Nielsen to go from the front, it was still the Dane that out sprinted the others for victory. That now gives Astana back to back stage wins going into the final rest day of the Tour. Had I been able to stay caught up, I could be enjoying the rest day myself. This rest day falls on my birthday this year. Last year I got to watch the final stage in Paris as I celebrated my 60th. This year is a bit more calm, for the peloton and myself.
After a flurry of attacks from the front group on the road, the break is now all back together. They had caught Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the way into Carcassone. Majka and the local rider, Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) were going to be at a distinct strategical disadvantage for stage victory. Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) had another teammate with him, as did riders from Trek-Segafredo and Astana. With a pair of teammates, one can attack while the other covers the counter, thus discouraging the chase and aiding in letting one's teammate get off the front relatively unchallenged. With just seven and a half kilometers left in the stage, it was looking like the local wasn't going to have a chance for glory in his home town.
This couple looks to have camped on the side of the road, just to cheer on the peloton as it rode up the Pic de Nore. They were festooned in what I first took to be the French flag, but I realized as I was painting was the Dutch national colors instead. That made the odd orange had and orange pompoms make a little more sense. I am sure they were waiting for Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) but that didn't stop them for cheering every cyclist that rode by. The first to receive their ardor was the Polish rider, Rafael Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) despite him not being Dutch. Majka was hoping to ride away from the big break away (and the trailing peloton) as he climbed up to the baren mountain top - we are in the trees still at this point.
Unlike yesterday, no one challenged Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) for the sprint points today. It may have something to do with the experience level of those on the Maillot Vert's wheel. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) has ridden many Tours and is the defending Olympic Road Race champion. Behind him, Mathias Frank (Ag2r La Mondiale) has spent years in the pro peloton, along with being a former road racing champion of Switzerland. These guys knew why Sagan was in the early break, what his objectives are, and how very little they had to gain by challenging him. Sagan, on the other hand, was just double checking to make sure no one was going to try and jump him to the line in Mazamet. All Sagan has to do is finish the Tour (no small feat with the Pyrennes looming this coming week) and the Maillot Vert will be his in Paris. But, instead, he is going in the breaks and collecting as many sprint points as he can in every stage. He is closing in on breaking the highest point title in any Tours de France, a record he holds.
You can watch this painting come to life as I talk about what is happening in the image and the Tour up to this point. You can see one painting from every stage come to life on my You Tube channel (were I hope you will become a subscriber). And you may learn some things about watercolor painting, creating art, and cycling in the bargain.
This is a small 4x6 inch original watercolor painting that is available though my website at www.greigleach.com, or you can simply follow the direct link at the end of this post. Since it is an original it is first come first served. The painting was created using Yarka St Petersburg watercolors from Richesonart.com. The work sells for $75 plus shipping. And yes, international shipping is available.
For those in the General Classification, it was a draw today. A few off of the podium positions lost a couple of seconds, but first, second and third crossed the line on the air strip in Mende together. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) led Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas (Sky) over the line in reverse order of their GC standings. Time bonuses were not on offer, these three were roughly 30th on the stage, over eighteen minutes behind the stage winner, Omar Fraile (Astana). Froome looked a little week on the climb. The Sky duo was expected to gain on Dumoulin on the sharp climb, but it was the Dutchman who put the British duo under pressure. With the first of the Pyrennes coming after the rest day (and my birthday) it will be back to full on racing on Tuesday. And Sunweb trying to figure out how they are going to shake up the GC.
While Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) had led the race all of the way to the final climb, it was Omar Fraile (Astana) who went alone to the finish. Fraile took the first Tour stage of Astana. He came to the line a full eigthteen minutes ahead of the GC contenders. It help his ranking, but did nothing to alter the top thirty spots on the leader board.
With such a large group off of the front, some of the riders get frustrated with others not doing their share of work. The easiest way to correct the problem in a large group is to attack them on a climb. That is just what Gorka Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida), the Spanish National Champion, did. He was joined near the summit of the Col du Pont sans Eau by Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). Slagter was the one to get over the climb first, where he pressed on his advantage for another 46 kilometers hoping to solo to victory in Mende.
Apparently, the fans had been shamed about what had happened on Alpe d'Huez where a fan's camera caught the handlebars of Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) and threw him to the tramac. He got up and finished the stage, but then learn he had broken a vertabrae in the crash. Today the fans stood well back from the riders and enjoyed the racing without influencing it.
Today was the day that there was no question the break was going to stay away. By the time they had reached the 59 kilometers to go point, they had built up almost twenty minutes on the Team Sky led peloton. No one in the break was less then 45 minutes behind on the general classification, so there really was no reason to chase. All the peloton needed to think about was trying to gain time on each other on the sharp ascent coming out of Mende and up to the airport. That left over twenty guys out front vying for stage honors. Naturally, they were facing the same final climb, too.
As the break reached the summit of the Col de la Croix de Berthel, (and on most every other climb) teams will put soigneurs (helpers) along the road side to pass bottles, food (and if needed a spare wheel) to their team as they approach the top of the climb. This safes the weight of carry water up the climb, and of having to go back to the team car for refreshment. Stefan Kung (BMC) is reach out for a bottle as he follows Yves Lamaert (Quick Step) up the hill. The rest of the break is strung out behind them.
