Greig Leach

Lotto Soudal played an unusual tactic in the final kilometer of the Tour of Britain. It appeared the Jens Debusschere was the final lead out for their sprinter, Andre Greipel. Instead, as they pair went under the flame rouge, Greipel let the wheel of his teammate go and slowed the progress of the other sprinters who had lined up on the German sprinter's wheel. It was Boy Van Poppel (Trek-Segafredo) who first saw the ploy and went chasing the fleeing Debusschere. He was followed by the Dutch National Champion, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL Jumbo), but the pair were left in the dust of the fast man, Caleb Ewan (Orica-BikeExchange). So in the end it was Ewan for the victory on the final stage in London, with Groenwegen taking second and Debusschere just holding on for third. Steve Cummings' Yellow Jersey stayed on his shoulders, as all of the other jersey stayed on the shoulders of those who started the day wearing them. This is most likely the last race I will paint until the UCI World Road Racing Championships in Doha, Qatar. There had been a chance that I would be there painting the races live onsite, but that doesn't seem to have worked out. So it goes.