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They Knew It Would Come
No sooner had I painted the previous painting, "Maintaining Control" then did Richie Porte (Team Sky) faltered and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) launched a hard attack against the Maillot Jaune of Chris Froome (Team Sky). Starting back when Bradley Wiggins was winning the Tour for the team, Sky has learned to not stress the attacks, feeling confident that they can simply reel each escapee back in. Already, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Alberto Contador (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had tried and failed to drop the race leader, and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) felt sure that Quintana would fare no better. Behind the Sky boys, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was letting them do the work of pulling back the man who was just behind him on the General Classification.