Grand Tours


35 x 28 cm. Acrylic, mixed media and resin on canvas.
Tour de France


This multi-layered piece features a collage of French, Spanish and Italian road maps. Overlayed are some of the road-racing stars of yesteryear - André Darrigade (winner of 22 Tour de France stages); Miguel Poblet (the first Spanish rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France; twenty stage wins in the Giro d'Italia); Roger Rivière ("Rivière, who succeeded at the impossible, found the possible more difficult." Olivier Dazat); Jacques Anquetil ("Monsieur Chrono" - the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times; before the 1961 Tour Anquetil stated that he would gain the yellow jersey on day one and wear it all through the tour. He did.); Fausto Coppi ("Il Campionissimo"); and Pinarello (from which sprang the quintessential Italian racing bike).

Entwined around the typographic framework of Grand Tours are the contours of some of the most famous, and well-respected climbs of europe - France's Ventoux and Tourmalet, Spain's Alto de L'Angliru and Italy's Passo di Gavia.
All artwork, text and images © James Straffon 2024.