One of the best parts of the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards is announcing the Young Cyclist Assistance grant winners.

Mark was a kind human, and helping others was just part of his make up. I am so proud to continue on his legacy — with the support of so many photographers from all over the world — via the Young Cyclist Assistance grant for three young cyclists.

Yes you heard right! This year we had an unprecedented number of nominees, so we decided to award two young cyclists AUD$1,000 and a third young cyclist AUD$500. All the other money raised goes to Tour de Cure, our charity partner, to help cure cancer.

I am so privileged to share in reading the stories of our nominees from all over the world — from Canada, Chile, Australia, Spain, India, Venezuela, USA, Argentia, Sierra Leone, Scotland, and Guatemala. Every single nomination moved and inspired me.

Our judge — Sarah Gigante — herself a nominee of the Young Cyclist Assistance (unsuccessful at that!!!), has given so much thought and consideration to the winners. Sarah is a Pro Tour Cyclist for Movistar and Olympian — not bad for someone so young. Read on to find out who Sarah selected and her thoughts on the being a part of the Awards.

Congratulations to all our nominees and to may 2022 be another chapter in your cycling journeys.

It was such an honour to be able to help choose the recipients of the Mark Gunter Young Cyclist Assistance program for 2022. I have loved working alongside Leeanne, Wade and Lucas and being able to play a small but important part in celebrating Mark and what he did, and what his legacy continues to do, for the cycling community.

On top of this, having the privilege to find out about so many passionate and eager young cyclists and the lengths they are going to in order to follow their dreams warmed my heart.

It was wonderful to see how far the news of the Mark Gunter Young Cyclist Assistance grant traveled this year. Of course, this excellent take up only made our job of narrowing the list down to just three riders even more difficult.

Every single young cyclist who applied is very deserving of a grant, and I just wanted to say, before I announce the winners, that I wish I could give you all $1000! I hope and believe that you will all reach those goals which you proudly shared in your applications.

Thanks for giving me an insight into your cycling dreams, and I’ll be following from afar as I chase my own — maybe I’ll see you out there!

And the winners are………

“The first applicant to whom I would like to award $1000 is a young man from Sierra Leone, Abu Sheik Sesay. You may not know his name yet, but you probably know his face, as Matt Grayson’s stunning photo of Abu Sheik’s elation after a podium in the Tour de Lunsar won second place in part of the photography side of the Mark Gunter Awards!

Reading about the context surrounding Sierra Leonean cycling gave me a lot of perspective into just how much difference a grant like this one will hopefully make in a passionate young cyclist’s career.

Abu Sheik is certainly one such cyclist, and I really hope that this money will allow him to travel to Rwanda and join the African Rising Cycling Centre. The application for Abu Sheik has opened my eyes to the fact there has never yet been a Sierra Leonean professional cyclist — but I hope that Abu Sheik can change this and inspire others to follow in his footsteps.

Best of luck Abu Sheik!”

Congratulations Abu — you’ve been awarded AUD$1,000

Thank you to Matt Grayson — the professional photographer who won the Silver in the 2021 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards. Your photo helped to shine a light on cycling in Sierre Leone.  Image credit Matt Grayson

And thank you to Tom Owen — a cycling writer who supports and promotes the Lunsar Cycling Team — for your nomination of Abu.

“Another very worthy winner of $1000 is 18-year old Chilean track and road cyclist Carlos Rodriguez. Despite his young age, he has already shown massive amounts of both physical and mental prowess by having won eleven national titles in the seven years he has been racing.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic marred the two years that he was in the Junior Under 19 category, meaning that he missed out on the opportunity to race on a bigger level, at the Junior World Championships.

As Carlos makes the big step up from juniors and continues to chase his dream of being a top track sprinter, I hope that this grant helps him to travel and represent his country at future major competitions across South America and the world, and also to buy the equipment necessary for success. I will be following his career closely!”

Congratulations Carlos — you’ve been awarded AUD$1,000

Images supplied by Carlos Rodriguez

“I am very glad that there are three grants to be awarded this year, because this third cyclist has also impressed me greatly, and I look forward to seeing what she can do in the future with the $500 grant made possible by the Mark Gunter Young Cyclist Assistance program.

Anya Louw is a 21 year old Australian road cyclist who has been racing for more than half her life, yet is still only getting better and better.

At the time of her application, she wrote that she had achieved many podiums in Under 19 and Under 23 national championships,

however, in the short time between then and now, she has since gone on to become a dual Under 23 national champion.

Despite her grit and strength that she has shown in Buninyong and throughout her whole career, I know that the journey to fulfilling her dream to become a full-time professional will not be easy or cheap, so I hope that this grant helps her in her travels to Europe this year.”

Congratulations Anya — you’ve been awarded AUD$500

Image credit Alex Polizzi @polizzi._

Lucas lost his Dad at the age of just 15 months. Way too early for anyone. Thankfully, he has a great understanding of his Dad and of his passion for cycling and cycling photography.

Late last year Lucas started riding — and he hasn’t looked back. He cycled 100km in his first month and raised over $1,500 himself. He has joined a local cycling club and is excited about ‘racing’ every week.

Congratulations to our all young cyclist nominees — and may you have a successful 2022 on and off the bike.

Lucas & Leeanne