Greig Leach

I read a book on the history of the Tour, and one of the main points was that this race is meant to be hard, very hard. In fact the originators thought they hadn't succeeded in making it tough enough if more than half of the starters made it all of the way to Paris. It appears that the cruel streak still runs strong in the modern Tour de France. After a steep climb almost right out of the start gate, the riders fast a super fast descent into the town of Megeve. As the racers tried to carry as much speed to the line as possible they had to negotiate a quick series of sharp turns. This is the current Time Trial Champion of Portugal, Nelson Oliviera (Movistar) leaning his way through the final S-curve of the stage. Not the couple with the straw hats just behind him, they will appear in a second painting today.