Tour Stage 17: Catching His Wheel

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was riding like a man possessed.  He was certainly extremely focused on securing the Polka Dot Jersey of the King of the Mountians, thus far he had the legs to be the first over the first two climbs of the stage.  As they approached the summit of the penultimate climb of the day, the Col de Val Lauron Azet, Rodriguez again jumped from the pack to sprint to the peak of the mountain.  Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Saxo) did his best to catch the Virtual Polka Dots, but just didn't have enough to get around the man in red.  Perhaps if the road had turned left instead of right he could have gotten a couple of points on Rodriguez, but it went the other way and so did the points.  All Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff Saxo), Jon Izaguirre (Movistart) and Peter Velits (BMC) could do was watch the two mountain goats sprint off.  They were more interested in winning the stage and didn't want to spend the extra energy trying to get points for a jersey they couldn't possible win given how few mountains were left to climb.  This is a small original watercolor and ink painting that is available through my artist website at www.greigleach.com.  This painting along with all of my watercolors of the 101st Tour de France will be included in my soon to be self published tome, "Book de Tour."  To learn more about the book project, the incentives for those who pledge their support, to pre order your copy, or to discover how you can be a part of bringing this stunning Tour de France to print, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335072134/book-de-tour.  To purchase this particular painting, just follow the direct link at the end of this post.  But don't you want a copy of the book with all of the paintings in it?  Sure you do!

http://www.greigleach.com/large-view/Tour%20de%20France%202014/2407326---199992/Painting.html#.U9B03s_D_IU