With this years Giro d’Italia entering its final week, these illustrations from Katsuhiro Otomo and Katsuya Terada give a neat snapshot of what’s probably the most interesting Grand Tour event.

While they’re likely to be much less prolific in the cycling community, Otomo and Terada are two of Japan’s most renowned illustrators, Otomo bringing us the likes of Akira and Steamboy. In 2007 they covered the Giro, compiling an array of sketches and photos which were used to inform the production of their 190 page artbook, Viva Il Ciclissimo.

Perhaps what’s most fascinating about their illustrations is not the supreme technical proficiency but their eye for the subsidiary elements of a sprawling, Grand Tour; The cramped team car, the calm before a time trial, the contortions of a photographer trying to get the shot.