VeloVoices Awards 2014: Photo of the Year

Last but by no means least, we’re introducing one final new award for our Photo of the Year.

Cycling photography is getting better and better and the old guard is making way for a new breed of photographers. Kathi has picked out five photographs from five members of this new generation: Emily Maye, BrakeThrough Media, Gruber Images, Marshall Kappel and Wei Yuet Wong. She’s chosen these particular photographs as they epitomise the different styles of the photographers as well as the different facets of cycling. It’s up to you to vote now for your favourite!

(All photographs are copyright of the named photographers.)

Winning the Ronde

Emily Maye‘s photo essays for Trek Factory Racing make you feel like you’re given an Access All Areas pass into what the riders go through before, during and after big races. But she also brilliantly captures what these races mean to the fans. Here, fans of all shapes and sizes crowd around the team bus to congratulate Fabian Cancellara on his third Ronde van Vlaanderen victory.

After the Stelvio

Cycling is a brutal sport at times, where battling the elements is as an important part of the race as battling other riders and the parcours itself. The Stelvio stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia had all these factors in spades and this photograph from BrakeThrough Media epitomises just how much that battle takes out of a rider.

Stage 5, Tour de France

We can say the same about stage 5 of the Tour de France: a perfect storm of treacherous weather, a challenging parcours and riders swallowing their fear to give their all on the cobbles. This photography by Gruber Images brings you right back to that day and the misery it meted out.

Quintana smile, Vuelta a Espana

Of all sportspeople, cyclists are probably the most accessible to their fans and photographs of these interactions are irresistible. These boys will never forget the thrill of meeting their hero Nairo Quintana at this year’s Vuelta a Espana and Marshall Kappel captured that lovely interaction perfectly.

The podium realisation

The realisation of the win can be as overwhelming as the disappointment of the loss and this photograph of Michal Kwiatkowski captures that moment perfectly. Wei Yuet Wong‘s photograph has captured that split second when it dawns on the new World Champion, “I’ve done it!”

Let us know your choice and the reasons for it – or if we have missed out your personal favourite – in the comments below.

The polls for all 11 VeloVoices Awards (you can access the others via the links below) will remain open until 1200 GMT (UK time) on Friday 12th December, so get your votes in across every category before it’s too late! Results will be announced on the podcast and the blog the following Monday.