VeloNews Fall 2021

This is my final issue as editor-in-chief at VeloNews, and this issue also bookends what has been a 10-year run with the publication. I’ve dedicated more than half of my professional life to VeloNews, and I cannot truly explain my affection for this publication and my affection for you, the reader.VeloNews has changed in so many ways since I started as an intern in 2004. Back then, the print magazine came out every two weeks, chock-full of race reports and results from the biggest events. I spent upward of 150 days a year on the road attending bike races, because that was really the only way to understand what had happened in an event. Today, VeloNews is a thriving digital brand, with podcasts, video, social media accounts, a membership, and more…

I guess before the Olympics you would have hoped and dreamed that you would come home with a medal, but perhaps you didn't imagine that you would take the gold and particularly in this way. No, not gold. I don't know, I always want to win of course but I knew it wasn't realistic. So, I didn't make any plans of coming back with a medal. I didn't even have the time to be too emotional. I was so busy just telling my story during interviews that I didn't really have time for myself to actually think about the medal and what is behind it. I hope I find the time to really reflect for myself. What has it been like having people reach out to you and say what your win…

It is a well-known fact among photographers that certain images require more effort than others. And when it comes to the Tour de France, well, certain images come at a higher price than others. For a large part of my career I have focused on capturing the emotions of riders just after the finish line, the highs and sometimes the lows. I have been drawn to this particular moment in the sport because, in the few minutes just after the race, the cyclists are capable of revealing emotions they rarely display. Helmets come off, glasses too, as the walls that often hide the physical strain collapse and the rider’s expressions are seemingly the windows to their soul. This body of work was the basis for my first major gallery exhibit at the…

I have covered the Canadian Grand Prix races, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, every year since they were launched in 2010. Alas, in 2020 and 2021 both races were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But that does not mean that they are not still some of the races we love — far from it! These races aren’t the first major pro events in Québec. Back in the 1980s and 90s there was the Grand Prix des Amériques, which attained World Cup status. That race was great, but making two events a WorldTour double header in 2010 was an instant recipe for success. Race organizer Serge Arsenault is sincerely passionate about cycling, and he possesses an “only the best” mentality for all involved…

Photographing the moments that defined the 2021 cycling season LUC CLAESSEN/GETTY IMAGES NIKON D5 1/2000 f3.2 ISO 640. LUC CLAESSEN/GETTY IMAGES NIKON D5 1/2500 f4.0 ISO 180. LUC CLAESSEN/GETTY IMAGES NIKON D5 70-200mm f/2.8 1/1600 f4.0 ISO 640. MARK VAN HECKE/GETTY IMAGES NIKON D5 1/4000 f5.6 ISO 800. JAMES STARTT NIKON D5 70-200mm f/2.8 1/640 f4.0 ISO 2000. LUC CLAESSEN/GETTY IMAGES NIKON D5 1/2500 f6.3 ISO 400. JAMES STARTT NIKON D5 70-200mm f/2.8 1/2000 f4.0 ISO 160. WIL MATTHEWS SONY ILCE-1 600mm f/6 1/2500 f6.3 ISO 4000. JAMES STARTT NIKON Z7 70-200mm f/2.8 1/2000 f4.0 ISO 800. JAMES STARTT NIKON D4S 70-200mm f/2.8 1/2500 f5.0 ISO 640. JAMES STARTT NIKON Z7 70-200mm f/2.8 1/2500 f4.0 ISO 400. TIM DE WAELE/GETTY IMAGES Canon EOS-1D X Mark III 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III 1/3200…

CYCLING IS A SPORT BORN FROM PAIN. You can’t climb up hors catégorie summits without feeling the burn. Some riders thrive on the sting of lactate acid, others fear it. Some of cycling’s biggest champions channeled this pain with anger, and weaponized suffering as both a physical and psychological tool to dominate and win the Tour de France. Something is different about Tadej Pogačar. The 22-year-old Slovenian seems to be immune to pain. Not that he doesn’t hurt or doesn’t do the work, but pain and suffering do not seem to be part of his vocabulary. And if they are, they’re certainly not viewed in the negative. Ask Pogačar’s teammates what makes him tick, and they all agree it’s the pure joy of racing. “In all the years I have worked with him, I have…