Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 21

What is it about that last little bit of a project that's always so difficult to finish? Maybe it's the final piece of trim on a new window you installed, or that oil painting you spent months working on that now sits up against a wall, simply waiting for a frame.

Or maybe you assigned yourself the project of painting a watercolor for each stage of the Tour de France, and after twenty paintings completed and posted on your blog, you just can't bring yourself to do that last one!

A deadline really is a wonderful thing. There's no way I could have done twenty-one paintings had I sat down after the Tour and said: "I think I'm going to do a painting for each stage of the 2011 Tour de France." It was the challenge of doing them quickly during the Tour itself that kept my inner critic quiet. "Just leave me alone," I'd tell it, "I have a blog to write! It's good enough!"

But the final Stage 21 painting was different. There was no Stage 22 coming up the next day. No future stages that would pile up saying, "paint me now or else you'll fall hopelessly behind!" I had all the time in the world ... which really meant I had no time at all, because when tomorrow is an option, so many more mundane things start crowding into today.

So at long last, here is my Stage 21 Tour de France watercolor!


...or maybe I should say "post-Stage 21" painting. I think I'll call it: Tour de France, The Day After. Or maybe: A Tour de France Fan Lives Here.

Unlike football, baseball, hockey, or nearly any other sport, there's no stadium for road cycling that stands during the off-season. There are only scattered remnants of races past to remind us of all the fun and excitement of a remarkable Tour, like photos, articles, blogs, books, and journals ... and a few very special jerseys, hung out to dry until next year.

In my painting, life goes on down below on the street, but you never know where a Tour de France fan might live in the windows up above, reminiscing about Tours from earlier days, keeping the magic alive.

So to all the riders, team managers, mechanics, t.v. announcers, Tour organizers, journalists, wild & crazy roadside fans, and fellow television viewers, thanks for a wonderful 2011 Tour de France! I loved every minute of it. Vive Le Tour!

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 15-20

After Stage 15's brief but beautiful journey through the villages of the Southern France...


...it was time for the Alps!

What words define the Alps for you? Maybe majestic, grand, or even breathtaking. But we Tour fans have our own unique shorthand for describing these magnificent mountains. A picture may be worth a thousand words -- but for us, a simple name brings up a world of images and stories.

Like Col du Galibier, with its misty, treeless summit and winding road, the site of this year's Stage 18 and 19:


That word, Galibier, will now always bring Tour fans back to the thrill of Andy Schleck's solo breakaway on Stage 18 and Alberto Contador's equally daring attack on Stage 19. Who wasn't cheering at their TV's during those stages?!

Then there's the mythic L'Alpe d'Huez, with its 21-switchbacks, wild fans, bright colors, and thrilling finishes...


After Stage 20, it will always be remembered as a very special place for young Pierre Rolland, the first French cyclist to win this legendary climb since the 1980's. That's the beauty of the Tour -- there's a little magic in it for everyone.

This year we can also add new names and images to our Tour vocabulary. Like the high-speed descent through the dark forests of Sestrieres, where in Stage 17 Thomas Voeckler once again defended his Yellow Jersey with so much heart and panache.


Then there was the so-called "transitional" Stage 16, which to everyone's surprise turned into a fantastic GC battle when Alberto Contador attacked on the Category 2 Col de Manse. But that was only half the story! Norwegian Thor Hushovd's victory inspired thousands of Scandinavian fans to cheer him on, chalking his name on the road in grand Le Tour tradition.


And to end this historic week of racing, there was Stage 20's Grenoble. Not a mountain, but a beautiful mountain city, where Cadel Evans launched his magical ride.


What an incredible Tour de France! And after 20 stages of watercoloring, I'm beginning to run out of paint! But I think I have a little left for one more day: Stage 21. Paris.

So fellow TV viewers ... see you on the Champs-Elysees.

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 12, 13, & 14 (The Pyrenees)

The soulful Pyrenees seem so mysterious and remote in comparison to their superstar cousins, the Alps. But that just makes them all the more romantic. Maybe you have a mountain range near your own home that you love, like the Berkshires, the Cascades, or the Alleghenies. But for a few days in July, every cycling fan's heart lies in the Pyrenees.

My Stage 12, 13, and 14 watercolors are of the blur of orange-flag-waving Basque fans as they crowd around the climbing rider, a lone racer careening down a misty Pyrenean descent, and the mountain switchbacks made so colorful by the breakaway and long line of fans:




There was so much drama in these three stages! Not only did Thor Hushovd earn his first mountain victory, but the battle of the favorites was both weird and wonderful. Sure, it would have been fun to see Contador, one of the Schleck brothers, or Evans pull out ahead and really dominate the race. But watching all of the contenders eye and test each other on the slopes of the Plateau de Beille was equally suspenseful and thrilling. And best of all, we still have no idea who the 2011 Tour de France frontrunner is. It's going to make for a wonderful few days in the Alps!

Colors of the Tour de France, Stages 10 & 11

Two stages, two days of amazing Tour de France scenery and racing. For Stage 10, I decided to paint a watercolor of the riders careening through the lovely red-roofed village of Villefranche...


And for Stage 11, the iconic Tour image: the peloton racing past fields of bright yellow sunflowers ... here in a quick, late-night watercolor:


Can't wait for the Pyrenees tomorrow!

Colors of the Tour de France: Stages 7, 8, & 9

Those were beautiful fields the peloton rode through in Stage 7 of the Tour de France -- the perfect setting for Mark Cavendish's incredible stage win. Here in my Stage 7 watercolor, the riders are being cheered on by local fans as they race through the lovely colors of the Loire Valley:


But the scenery in next two stages was truly magical! Deep in the Auvergne region of France, the riders weaved their way around the "puys" of the Massif Central. Puy is the French term for a dormant volcano. How cool is that?! Both stages featured climbs up and around those magnificent old mountains (as well as some terrible crashes, unfortunately). Here in my Stage 8 watercolor, the peloton is just a tiny ribbon of color as it races toward the village ahead (I put on of one of those distinctive puys on the right):


And in Stage 9, the riders rode right up into the misty upper reaches of those now-quiet volcanos:

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 6

We see so many colors rush by the peloton as the Tour weaves its way across France. Soon we'll replace the greys, browns, deep greens and blues of northern France with the sandy and sunny colors of the Mediterranean coast and the cold granite shades of the Pyrenees and Alps. But if there's one color we see absolutely everywhere on Le Tour, it's the stark white of all those rented RV's and campers!

I imagine the camper-renting fans must be having so much fun. They simply park their RV in a prime spot, role down the awning, break out the Normandy cheese, and wait for the Tour to pass by. I love seeing whole families cheering on the race, standing in front of those oddly charming-looking vehicles.

So here's my Stage 6 watercolor, dedicated to rented campers and the fans who inhabit them.


Hmmm ... I wonder where that family on the left drove in from, waving the black, yellow, and red flag. Can you guess? (Hint: they're most likely rooting for Philippe Gilbert and the entire Quick Step and Omega Pharma-Lotto teams...)

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 5

Congratulations to Mark Cavendish on an incredible sprint finish!

As much as I was rooting for Tyler Farrar on Stage 3, I was rooting for Cavendish today. Something just doesn't feel right these days when Cavendish isn't out there winning stages. Maybe it's because we feel his emotions so vividly. We know how terrible Cavendish feels when things go wrong, especially since he always says he owes his loyal teammates a win. Or maybe it's because watching Cavendish and HTC-Highroad win a sprint is such a thing of beauty. In Cavendish and HTC's hands, the tactics of cycling look so graceful and powerful on the road.

Today's victory might not have followed the usual HTC-Highroad playbook, but that just made it all the more thrilling.

And then there was the magnificent backdrop of Brittany, with its grey villages, rocky coastlines, and all those delightful fans. Watching today's stage, I wanted to hop on a plane, rent a bike, ride to a spot on the Tour route, and cheer alongside all those wonderful people who love cycling so much.

So I'll do the next best thing. To the cycling fans of beautiful Brittany, this Stage 5 watercolor is for you.

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 4

What an amazing stage -- with Contador, Evans, Hushovd, and Gilbert all battling it out at the finish! The "Wall of Brittany" certainly lived up to its evocative name, here in its first Tour de France appearance as a stage finish (See interesting comment from Trevor of the Purple Traveller blog below, correcting an earlier version of this post where I wrote that it was the Wall's first-ever appearance in Le Tour. Thanks, Trevor!)

Like yesterday, the scenery was just incredible. Gone are the red roofs of the Vendee region. Here in Brittany, we're being treated to the beautiful greys of the shops, houses, and village cathedrals, and the deep greens of the forests. And so it's that dark, mysterious forest that is the subject of my TdF watercolor for today, as the peloton races through Brittany on its way to the Mur de Bretagne.

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 3

There were so many dramatic scenes I could have chosen to paint for Stage 3. The peloton crossing the incredible St. Nazaire Bridge, Tyler Farrar forming a "w" with his fingers as a victory salute to the late Wouter Weylandt, and Yellow-Jersey wearer Thor Hushovd cheering on his teammate Farrar at the finish all would have made for wonderful subjects.

But one of the things I love about watching the Tour is discovering the little slices-of-life that make Old World France so unique. I've been visiting with my parents in North Carolina this week while on vacation, and one the things my mother (who is a great Tour de France fan) enjoys seeing are shutters that actually work!


Here in the US, shutters are pretty much decorative. They're just nice window dressings permanently nailed open. They don't even have hinges anymore. But in France, sometimes the shutters are open and sometimes they're closed. Sometimes they're bright blue, red, green, or brown. And sometimes, if you look closely enough, you can see a Tour de France fan inside wearing a yellow shirt and hat cheering on the race.

So to all the French fans throwing open their shutters, waving the Tri-Color, and shouting "allez! allez!" at their favorite riders ... this painting is for you.

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 2

For this very exciting Team Time Trial stage, I was going to paint the winning team, Garmin-Cervelo, racing through the beautiful village of Les Essarts, with "Etape 2" (Stage 2) rising out of the background. But after painting the riders so stark against the white paper, I looked at it for a moment and thought: "you know, that's pretty nice just as it is."

Because the mechanics of a team time trial are a beautiful thing alone. An even line of riders, speeding ahead at rates of over 40 mph, rotating leaders at the front like a graceful machine ... it's a thrilling site.

Keen observers will notice that I did not include Thor Hushovd's Polka Dot King-of-the-Mountains jersey in this painting. That's because it just didn't look right on Thor! We're used to him in green, sprinting toward the finish ... not laboring up a mountain in polka dots (besides, it really belonged to Philippe Gilbert, who was in the Yellow Jersey). So I took a little creative license and gave Thor a matching Garmin-Cervelo outfit. After winning yellow at the end of this stage, I'm sure Thor was happy to be out of those polka-dots too.

I may go back and finish this painting at some point. But for now, it's all about Garmin-Cervelo. Congrats our great American team!

Colors of the Tour de France, Stage 1

The Tour de France is back!

For me, the month of July is all about the Tour. That means watching the coverage on Versus each evening, and then breaking out the watercolors to continue what has become an annual tradition on this blog ... a Tour project! Because after seeing something so monumental and beautiful every night, you just have to do something.

And this year, my project is all about color.


Sometimes abstract, sometimes more literal, and sometimes a little of both, I hope to capture a bit of the real -- and even imagined -- colors of each stage. Connecting each painting: "Etape", the wonderful French word for "Stage".

This year, the Tour literally seemed to rise from the sea, as the riders crossed the Passage du Gois -- a road that twice-a-day is completely submerged by high tides, connecting the Beauvoir-sur-Mer to the Vendee region of France. We didn't see much of that crossing on T.V., since it happened very early in the race. But it was that long mysterious road that still formed the mythology of this stage.

And so today, even with all the drama of crashes and sprints that shook up the General Classification ... it was the peloton's crossing of the sea that was foremost in my mind. The blues of water and sky, browns of the seabed, the greens of the Vendee countryside, a hint of red for all those red-roofed towns, and one long, dark road illuminated by the peloton ... those are the colors that stood out in my mind in Stage 1.

As an aside, June was a very eventful month for me, which I'll be reporting on within the next couple weeks. I just finished the two-day, 150 mile Boston-to-Provincetown MS Ride -- an incredible experience. So stayed tuned for details!

Tour de France: Stage 20

Bravo et Merci!

That's the message Claire Pedrono wrote on her chalkboard on this final day of the Tour de France.

For nearly a month Pedrono rode on the back of a bright yellow motorbike, writing the time gaps between the breakaways and the peloton on her board, displaying them to the riders. But today was different. On the first half of Stage 20 there were no breakaways, no chases, and no battles to be fought. Instead of the high mountains and deep forests that were the backdrops for the greatest dramas of the Tour, we saw apartment houses, stores, and parks.

It was, quite simply, a friendly neighborhood bike ride. A time to celebrate and say thanks.

So as the riders patted each other on the back and sipped champagne, our friend Claire Pedrono captured the moment perfectly. "Bravo et merci!" she wrote, and seeing her chalkboard on t.v. I thought to myself: yes, I couldn't agree more.

But if all those good feelings were what defined the first half of Stage 20, the second half was on a different plane entirely. Quietly, as if entering the room through a side door, the riders arrived in Paris, and everything changed.

I say "quietly" because this wasn't a little Pyrenean village they were riding into, with the peloton barreling through narrow streets, larger than life. Here, the great city simply unfolded for its guests -- gracefully, one panel at a time.

The riders passed by the beautiful bridges of the Seine. We television viewers marveled at the pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Way off in the distance we could make out the Louvre and Notre Dame. As the helicopter cameras panned out across the metropolis, each new kilometer revealed so many familiar sights and wonders. And the best part was ... it all came into view at the smooth and fluid pace of a bike ride.

It's the same magical pace that took us through the modern streets of Rotterdam, across the cobbles of Belgium and northeastern France, up the treeless peaks of the Alps, past the sunflower fields of Revel, and over the mightiest passes of the Pyrenees. What a wonderful way to experience this magnificent corner of the world.

And now, as the Tour carried us down the banks of the Seine, deeper and deeper into the most beautiful city in Europe, this smooth cycling motion felt as graceful and stylish as the city itself. Not only had the Tour de France riders earned the right to be here in Paris, they belonged.

With a sweeping turn onto the Place de la Concorde, the final battle began -- this time on the greatest stage of all: the Champs Elysees. Eight laps up and back, all under the proud view of the Arc de Triomphe, surrounded by cheering fans ... the subject of my final Tour de France 2010 painting...


What a thrilling battle it was! There on that long flat avenue, we could see the architecture of the Tour play itself out one last time. The rebellious little breakaway, the Empire that is the peloton, the lead out trains, the breathless announcers, and the breakneck sprint to the finish ... it was as if it was all being etched into our memories, this time for good. And then when Mark Cavendish crossed the finish line, that was it! The Tour de France 2010 -- one of the most exciting Tours in memory -- had come to an end.

So now here I sit a few days later in a Boston coffee shop, writing the end of this post, and I find myself at a loss for words. Twenty stages and countless stories have passed since the Tour began -- what can I possibly write to sum it all up? All I can think of are images: foggy mountain passes, dusty cobbles, exuberant fans, huge windmills, cozy villages, horrific crashes, colorful jerseys, and green forests.

But then I stop trying so hard. I look out the coffee shop window for a moment, reflect back on this extraordinary month-long event ... and slowly a few words drift into my mind.

I realize they're perfect.

So to everyone at the Versus channel who brought us those beautiful pictures...

To Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Bob Roll, and Chris Hummer who told us the Tour's stories with such eloquence and humor...

To all the wonderful riders who created those stories on the road...

To the thousands of people lining the streets of France, Belgium, and Holland...

And to all the folks like Claire Pedrono, who worked so hard behind-the-scenes to make the magic of the Tour come alive...

Bravo et Merci!

It was a wonderful ride.

Tour de France: Stage 19

As I sat down to begin my Tour de France painting of the day, I had a problem. I knew I wanted to show a rider racing through the green vineyards of Bordeaux -- but which rider? Contador, Schleck, or Armstrong?

Following the tradition of the Tour de France where great stories constantly overlap, I chose all three. In the following painting, you'll see traces of Alberto Contador's yellow jersey, Andy Schleck's white jersey, and the red Radio Shack jersey of Lance Armstrong:


Contador and Schleck both gave the time-trials of their lives -- a thrilling ending to one of the greatest GC battles in Tour de France history. And Lance Armstrong? It was as if he constantly found new things in this Tour de France to motivate him, no matter how small. He fought through one crash after another in the early days of the Tour; but when it became clear there was no possibility of victory, he didn't give up. He supported his team, gave a stage win a shot, and when all else failed, simply rode his bike -- kilometer after kilometer, always finishing. What a wonderful ride.

Tour de France: Stage 18

The sprinters are back! Cavendish, Hushovd, Petacchi, and Dean ... it was like seeing old friends from college again. So guys, what have you been up to? "Oh, don't ask," they reply, shaking their heads. "Everything was going great, until we hit these mountains...."

Well, there was no need to worry on this stage. The switchbacks, fog, and Pyrenean sheep herds were all behind us. With nothing but flat roads all the way to Bordeaux, we were once again treated to the magnificent colors of a full-out sprint to the finish, the subject of my painting for the night...

Tour de France: Stage 17

It was as if we'd stepped into a dream. The white jersey of Andy Schleck and the yellow jersey of Alberto Contador, emerging from the murky mists of the Tourmalet, climbing higher and higher -- into the clouds. After three weeks of racing it had come down to this.

Side by side, they climbed ... Schleck in front, Contador just behind. Equal competitors, their attacks were barely noticeable on the road. It was in their faces that the story of Stage 17 was written. Surrounded by wild fans, fog, and flags waving in their faces, Schleck and Contador's eyes were focused solely on each other -- testing, daring, concentrating, and wondering.

It was in those great cyclists' eyes that you saw they got it. They got that here on this most historic of Tour de France climbs they were creating something extraordinary. When they patted each other on the back at the finish line, I think for a moment they had stepped outside of themselves, realizing what an incredible mountaintop adventure story they had written together. They were each simply saying: well done, my friend.

It's Schleck, Contador, the fans, and the mists of the Tourmalet that are the subject for my Stage 17 painting:


What an incredible stage it was.

Tour de France: Stage 16

The miles of campers parked alongside the road, the insane fans, the restaurant at the top of the pass, and the treeless landscape ... it can only be one place: the Tourmalet! Along with Alpe D'Huez, the Tourmalet is one of the greatest climbs of the tour to watch. And the best thing about it this year is that we get to see it twice. After the rest day tomorrow, the riders head back up the opposite side. Can't wait.

With all the amazing climbs in Stage 16 though, what I ended up remembering the most were those long, treacherous, and thrilling descents. Everything must seem like a blur to the riders as they barrel down the mountains at 60+ mph, the subject of my abstract painting for the evening...


As for the race itself -- yet again we saw some dramatic stories etched into Tour history, both on the road and off.

On the road ... What a thrill it was to see Lance Armstrong in the breakaway! That fast-pedaling cadence of his brought back many memories. Even though the day didn't end as he had hoped, seeing Lance battle it out one last time was a real treat to watch.

And off the road ... I just read the translation of Alberto Contador's YouTube apology/explanation, which I thought was very nice. I'm sure it won't change things on the course. Schleck will still be out for revenge, as he should -- that's what makes a great bike race! But Contador's video was a very human moment, and it really showed the difficult split-second decision he had to make. Nicely done.

Tour de France: Stage 15

Stage 15 was really only about one climb ... the majestic Port de Bales. Near-perfect it is, in the unique geometry of a Tour de France climb. It begins modestly in a small Pyrenean village with a little uptick in the road. Then it winds its way through a dark tunnel of trees ... higher and higher, steeper and steeper ... until finally the road bursts above the treeline, fanning out in a multi-colored ribbon of wild fans over an endless ripple of ridges -- the subject of my painting for the night:


It was here on this great mountain pass that the Tour de France 2010 handed us our moral question of the race: Should Contador have attacked when Schleck was having mechanical problems, eventually taking the yellow jersey?

In a perfect world, sure -- it's very easy for me to say yes, I would have preferred it had Contador waited for Schleck to fix his chain. Contador could have thought: who cares if Menchov and Sanchez keep racing to the end! This is a battle between me and my great rival Andy Schleck. I'm going to wait for him to fix that rotten chain of his ... and then I'll attack him!

That's all well and good, but there are two things that keep me from simply saying Contador was wrong:

1. That's a lot to think about in the heat of the moment. He's still young.

...and more importantly...

2. A Tour rider should only wait for a contender with a mechanical problem if he truly believes it's the right thing to do -- not because it's simply the custom.

Lance Armstrong and arch-rival Jan Ulrich both waited for each other after falls in the 2001 and 2003 Tours de France. They waited because you could see in their faces that they considered the situation and made thoughtful choices. Those were wonderful moments.

But if every rider waited each time a contender had a crash simply because they were following some unwritten code of conduct, that would make for one very boring bike race. Remember, no one waited for Lance Armstrong when he crashed on the cobbles of this year's Stage 3.

So O.K., Contador didn't wait. That was his choice. It was a heated moment, and there's no rule saying he can't. But now Andy Schleck will be out for revenge tomorrow, and everyone loves to root for the guy who falls behind in life through no fault of his own. If anything, Cantodor may have given Schleck the greatest gift of all ... there will be millions of people cheering for Andy on Stage 16.

Tour de France: Stage 14

The Pyrenees! These are the stages we've all been waiting for. Four amazing days in the high mountains, with the #1 podium spot still in hot contention. What could be better than that?

Today's stage first took us through the dark gorges of the Pyrenean foothills -- the subject of my Tour painting for the evening...


...and then we moved onto the day's two massive climbs: the above-the-tree-line Port de Pailheres, and the final climb up the Ax Trois Domaines. In a way, Stage 14 was all about twos: there were two mountains to climb, two Yellow Jersey contenders battling it out, and two dramatic stories created on those high roads.

Story #1: The Strange Dual Between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador

Contador looked to be in good form on the steep slopes of today's mountains, which normally means he's virtually unbeatable. Bad news for Andy Schleck. So what did Schleck do? He just rattled Contador's nerves. Rather than attacking, Schleck kept his eyes glued on Contador and mirrored his every move. When Contador attacked, vroom! -- there was Andy Schleck instantly on his rear wheel, every single time ... following, never attacking.

But I think Contador wanted Schleck to attack; he wanted this battle to begin. So Contador literally dared Schleck to pull ahead of him, riding slower, slower, and even slower, to the point of a near standstill. Schleck just seemed to say fine, if you want to go slow, just watch how slow I can go too. And so we were treated to the rare sight of two of the top riders in the Tour de France nearly falling off their bicycles, trying as hard as they could not to attack!

Had Schleck attacked though, Contador could have latched onto Schleck's rear wheel, waited for him to wear out, and then pulled away. So it was brilliant riding by Andy Schleck. He can't afford to do this again -- Schleck still desperately needs to add minutes to his lead. But for today, the strategy worked beautifully.

Story #2: The Magnificent Ride of Christophe Riblon

French rider Christophe Riblon had no time for the mind games of Schleck and Contaodor. He had a stage to win! And wow, win it he did, leading the race for an astounding 160 kilometers.

There were no gifts helping Riblon along to victory. This was earned. Team Astana drove the peloton forward at a blistering pace. No matter, Riblon stayed away. 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre launched an attack, trying to bridge the gap to the lead. Again, Riblon stayed away. Even Dennis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez pulled up close to the lone leader toward the end ... but it had no effect on the determined Riblon. He made it all the way to the finish line, punching his hand into the air in celebration during the final kilometer.

So congratulations, Christophe! You did it! All of us were cheering right along with you.

Tour de France: Stage 13

Beautiful, beautiful Stage 13. The riders sped past great fields of sunflowers, weaved their way through picturesque medieval villages, and traveled mile after mile of tree-lined roads. Those trees are so neatly spaced that they're like giant frames for the symphonies of color all around them. I bought a new watercolor pad this afternoon, so I enjoyed inaugurating it with a painting of the Tour racing through that incredible countryside...


Tomorrow begins the part of the Tour we've all been waiting for ... the Pyrenean stages. But I'll miss the quieter roads of southern France. As I climb on my bike for my own morning rides, I'll be thinking of those brilliant fields of yellow, the mysterious old forests, and the gently rolling hills of that magnificent corner of the world.

Tour de France: Stage 12

Wonderful stage today! I've always loved the intermediate stages between the Alps and the Pyrenees. One would think those roads would be pretty flat, but they aren't. There's an old, soulful mountain range right in the middle of southern France called the Massif Central that keeps them rolling.

I've never been to the Massif's mountains, but it looks to me that they're not unlike our equally soulful Appalachians here on the East Coast. I love the dark beauty of those quiet mountains and forests. One of the most graceful moments of today's stage was when the peloton crossed over a Roman aqueduct-style bridge, the subject of my quick Tour painting for this evening:


As for the strategy of Stage 12, I think Alberto Contador attacked on the Mende climb simply to stamp a little fear into his rivals before the Pyrenees. It was as if Contador was saying: "Watch out! You never know when I'm going to strike." I thought it was a brilliant and stylish move.

The cool and calm Andy Schleck never panicked though. He may not have had it in his legs to follow Contador at that moment, but he kept riding hard enough to minimize the lose of time. So tonight he still wears yellow (it's just 10 seconds less bright...).