St Sebastian was a martyr who was killed by shooting him with many many arrows. In professional cycling the big issue is illegal drug use and the prime candidate for every anti doping agency is Lance Armstrong who has never tested positive for any drug or substance. For many this is a red rag and they cannot imagine a human able to push himself that far over his pain threshold or anyone with the genetic ability to excel such as he has. This has led to him becoming the target for continual testing and attempts at finding him guilty of doping. The comparison between St Sebastian and Lance were too good to resist. My thanks to Rubens for supplying me with a wonderful  painting of St Sebastian to inspire me.This is the first rough sketch which grew into the completed version. All done digitally. Apple Mac, Wacom Cintiq and Painter.

Already a modification to the angel taking a hit. I wanted the syringe impaling him to be more visible to better put across the idea.

Getting there. Have added some brush strokes and more work on the pen and ink marks

The final image. The " votive candles" around his feet aren't candles. They are urine sample cups!

Close up of the head and chainring halo

...and the feet.

This syringe was just fun to work on. An older style of syringe made with metal and glass, just seemed so much more menacing than the plastic things of today.