Greig Leach

With a small but strong breakaway up the road, it fell to the teams of the sprinters to keep them honest. It seemed that every time we saw the front of the peloton it was the two-time USA National Champion, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) as his team's sole representative keeping the escapees in check. He was joined in the effort by the lion share of Alpecin-Deceunick with Silvan Dillier doing most of his team's workload. With 165 kilometers to race, it was the Stars and Stripes jersey that started pulling down the two-and-a-half-minute gap up to the five-man breakaway. With the Tour starting the day after July 4th, this will have to do as my patriotic July 4th painting.