Greig Leach

Throughout the men's Tour de France, I was struck by these banners both directing the riders and warning them of impeding danger. Somehow I never got the right image of the riders and the banner together. As Ricarda Bauerfeind (Canyon-SRAM) went pass one of these that turned her from a bit of traffic calming furniture, the image finally came together. Bauerfeind had jumped free of the peloton with another as she raced towards the bonus seconds six kilometers ago. She used that move to keep driving on her own toward Albi. In just six kilometers she had but just shy of a minute and a half into the small peloton of Tour Femmes favorites. With another twenty kilometers to race, it is right on the bubble if she will be able to stay clear, or will she, too, be caught within sight of the finish line.