Feature image: Etienne Garnier | other photography as credited
It’s hard to believe that another year — our sixth year — of the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards are almost at the end.
Our last judges shortlist is ready — from James Startt. You might to also check out the shortlists of Jojo Harper and Brazo de Hierro.
Our three judges are getting ready to meet and make the ultimate decisions — awarding the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year 2021 in both the Professional and Amateur categories.
Final winners to be announced on January 12, 2022.
Enjoy James’ top 10s!
Cover image by Etienne Garnier @etiennegarnier “This photo of Mark Hirschi was taken after his crash during the first stage of the Tour de France.”
James Startt’s experience as a cycling photographer is now in its fourth decade — he’s photographed every Tour de France since 1990.
The winner of the Gold Medal in the 2021 World Sports Photography Awards, works regularly with Peloton Magazine and Velonews, and Agence Zoom in France, and has authored numerous book.
“Abu Sheik Sesay is mobbed by fans after finishing second at the The Tour de Lunsar. It is Sierra Leone’s first multi-stage bike race. There is no blueprint for cycling in Sierra Leone @lunsarcycling. The race is creating a platform for young riders to showcase their talents and are seen as local heroes.” Matt Grayson @mattgrayson_photo
“The photo was taken in the bath and it is meant to represent Lotta just keeping her head above water. I had heard about the mental health stories in her life and how coming back to the world of cycling was a big deal for her. It was taken at the Ceratizit training camp. I had heard Lotta @lottahenttala had joined the team and asked if we can capture some styled portraits.” Sean Hardy @hardyccphotos
“2021 Tour de France – 07/07/2021 – Stage 11 – Sorgues to Malaucène – Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates descends from Mont Ventoux.” Alex Broadway @_alexbroadway_
“Alex Dowsett working on his aerodynamic position in preparation for his hour record attempt at the wind tunnel in Silverstone.” Alex Duffill @alexduffill
“Tadej Pogačar, probably one of the most precocious talents cycling has ever seen, double Tour de France winner at the age of 22. I love his attacking style and his never say die attitude. Tour de France Stage 8, one of those days that logistics dictated that it would only possible to see the riders once, so choosing your location was critical. Id visited the Col de la Colombière, during the 2020 edition of the Criterium du Dauphine and knew to get a clean shot the decent was the place to be.” Chris Auld @cauldphoto
“I know it’s a commercial shot, but I chose to enter with a shot within this series because it was such a fun and creative thing to do and I love the whole series. It also defines the person on the picture (Remco Evenepoel).” Wout Beel @woutbeel
“During the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Canazei and finishes on the Sega di Ala climb, the teammate, compatriot and wingman Daniel Felipe Martinez motivates and supports his captain and general classification leader Egan Bernal in a moment of crisis during the ascent of the final climb. With his valuable support and work, Egan Bernal managed to remain leader of the race and wear the pink jersey. Bernal would win the 104th edition of the Giro d’Italia a few days later in Milan” Luca Bettini @lucabettini87
“This one shows the determination of Alexander Kristof and his DS Alan Piper to get back in the race. This was taken with only 10KMS to go in this years Paris Roubaix. The Bottle was gratefully receive !!!” Gary Main @garymainphotographer
“Wout van Aert of Belgium leads the pack during the Elite Men’s Race at the 2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Ostend, Belgium.” Alex Whitehead @alex_swpix
“This was the second and final crit race at Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition. The race was dubbed The Roller Coaster Crit, so I wanted to try and capture that with the parks rides in the background as the rider came through the corner.” Filip Funk @filipfunk
“As a surf photographer with a passion for cycling and cx racing, who often shoots the surfers in Oostende close to the World Championships CX venue I could not hold myself to enter the freezing North Sea waters and try to get some images from an angle no one else could get. The idea came up when seeing the ladies race on Saturday. I knew it was a bit dodgy with all Covid measures yet I never expected this to get the (media) attention it got…” Maarten Van de Velds @mvv_photography
“Endless roads…. Exploring gravel roads of Odesa region (south part of Ukraine) during Budziak Gravel camp – organized by local cycling club Hoods and Drops. Unknown destinations, unexpected paths: all in all, life is a journey.” Iurii Makalis @makalisiurii
“Chris Simpson traverses the infamous boardwalks of Llandegla Moors in North Wales during this years GBDuro. The boards are notoriously difficult to ride with ruts pulling wheels left and right making for a twitchy crossing, and paired with treacherous conditions and low lying cloud it was as tough as ever. Currently being replaced by large stone slabs this tricky crossing of the moors would be one of the last for the challenging race” Toby Willis @tobychillis
“And last but not least, Woutje, just after he won the Belgian National Road Race Championships. Tired, but smiling. What a tremendous season! Thanks Wout!” Suzan Debuysere @suzandbsr
“June 2021 – The Dutch Road Cycling nationals – the ladies peloton storming up the Col du Vam, over the cruwling cobblestone section of a gradient of 15%” Marco Loman @lomanmarco
“The end of May usually marks the start of the summer cycling season and the opening of the Alpine “grand cols”. Once again, Sébastien Jarrot, aka @cycliste_tricolore sights firmly set on climbing that most majestic of northern Alpine cols – the Galibier, all 2,642 metres of it. Despite the heavy snowfalls over the winter, we @cycliste_tricolore had high hopes of reaching the summit of this mythical climb out from the Maurienne valley.” Maxime Vanyehe @maxime.visuals
“I’m the official photographer for the Fred Whitton Challenge sportive. This is my favourite spot to capture the agony and sometimes the ecstasy of the competing riders. The Hardknott Pass is one of the steepest roads in England with a gradient of 33%, the riders approach this with nearly 100 miles in their legs. This year we had all four seasons on the climb over a 5 hour period.” Steve Flemming @stevefleming1
“Color film photo. I like to think of this as the essence of summer as the rider completes a wall ride on a clown bike over a can of beer. Good times had by all.” Carl Sechrist @csechrist1
Thank you James Startt for your insightful choices.
To catchup on all the Showcases visit Mark Gunter Photography. and check out the shortlists from Brazo de Hierro and Jojo Harper.
For more information on the #markgunterphotoawards2021 check out CyclingTips.