Greig Leach

Since I paint these pieces in real time, I wasn't sure why Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) was letting a small gap open between himself and his general classification rivals. I was reminded of a Lance Armstrong ploy in the Tour de France. He mugged for the camera about how tired he was, and road at the back of the peloton. The news got to his rivals and they hit the front and road hard, burning teammates as they did. Later he attacked his diminished rivals and won the stage. Was Dumoulin doing a similar ploy? Given his words about he riding of Quintana and Nibali after yesterday's stage, I wouldn't put it past him. He does have his lieutenant, Simon Geschke, with him, so all may still be well. Gregor Muhlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) was happy to have some motivate wheels to follow.