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The ninth edition of the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards has been underway for a week – and already we’ve seen hundreds of incredible and emotive photos come in, showcasing a broad spectrum of cycling’s beauty.
The awards are an annual event held in honour of Mark Gunter (1974 – 2015), a much loved cycling photographer who died tragically young of oesophageal cancer. The Mark Gunter Photo Awards are a way of celebrating his life and the field in which he worked, conducted in partnership with his wife Leeanne Gatien. Entry fees raise money for cancer research for Tour de Cure.
This showcase from the first week of entries includes an inspiring selection of images from the Professional and Amateur categories that have caught our eye.
Want to get involved? Entries are open until midnight January 6 (ADST), at which point our panel of judges will deliberate on who will be the 2024 Mark Gunter Photographers of the Year.
A young fan cheers on riders as they compete in the time trial during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 27, 2024. I had all the photos I needed of the riders I was covering so started looking to the crowd for pictures, and despite the rain I was lucky to find an enthusiastic family. | Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn @nickiwanyshyn |The Haute Fagnes, a high plateau in the Belgian Ardennes, is known for its amazing gravelroads and also a know place for wintersport if there is snow. Why not combine those things? When we heard there would be 30-40cm of snow in the beginning of january, we went there with our gravelbikes. One of the most fun days ever, with some amazing shots as well! | Photo by Merlijn Spenkelink @merlingraphy |An exhausted Tim Wellens pours water over his head after clinching overall victory in the Renewi Tour on a scorching day, with the finish in Geraardsbergen. | Photo by Rhode Van Elsen @rhode_photo |Seven Gravel race in Western Australia has its own version of the ’Strade Bianche’ down under. Seven is part of UCI’s Gravel World Series and attracted more than 1300 riders this year. This aerial shot shows part of the beautiful one-day race course in the Southwest of Australia. | Photo by Daniela Tommasi @daniela_tommasi_photography |Alex Baudin Tour of Guangxi The young cyclist crosses the finish line out of breath after an agonizing and painful last km. | Photo by Iraia Calvo @iraiacalvophoto |Press1 is a rapper and cycling content creator from the UK. When I was researching locations for this shoot in Portishead and I saw the beautiful colours of the lido that’s right on the waterfront there, I knew immediately that we had to try and get a shot inside the building when the light was low to create the amazing shadows that appear in the final image. I love the way the colours create three distinct sections in the frame. | Photo by James Busby @jamesbusbyimages |I photographed the middle section of the velodrome track from the very top when I climbed onto the technical scaffold of the roof. All the boxes where the riders are located are like a small town, during the Polish Cup in track cycling | Photo by Tomasz Seruga @tomaszseruga |The last Spanish Cyclocross Championship was held in Amurrio on a beautiful circuit with many technical sections and very slippery mud due to the rains of the previous days that put the skills of the cyclists to the test. In one of the last laps the BH team rider Jofre Cullell, who was fighting for the medals, skidded when entering a puddled area, falling to the ground right where I was, with my camera almost on the ground, because the area seemed very interesting visually and I was lucky enough to be able to capture the moment in which his fall raised all the mud. Bad luck for the cyclist and good luck for the photographer. | Photo by Tino Alvarez Rodriguez @tinosemeyes |This photo was taken during the first stage of the 2024 Vuelta a España. | Photo by Aritz Arambarri Goenaga @ziklix_photo |Another self-portrait from the same Bethel, Maine project. New England forests are densely covered and don’t offer a whole lot of vistas of the surrounding landscape. I found a corner on this granite slab that managed a small glimpse of the northern Appalachians behind my shoulder and really enjoy how this turned out. | Photo by Brice Shirbach @bricycles |Venezuelan cyclist Lilibeth Chacon (Pato Bike BMC) prepares to stand on the podium after taking the victory in the fifth stage of the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina 2024. | Photo by Cristian Perez @iinkdustrial |A young fan cheers for local legend Ibrahim S Jalloh – affectionally known as Bianchi after his first bike. | Photo by Oskar Scarsbrook @oskarito1997 |The peloton ride through the cycle track in the middle of the desert, during the 1st stage of the 6th UAE Tour. | Photo by Luca Bettini @lucabettini87 |Photo of Mathieu Van Der Poel during the cyclo-cross world cup in Benidorm (Spain) | Photo by Gaëtan Flamme @gaetan_sportpic |
Amateur category
The National Hill Climb Championships is the closest thing we have in the UK to the atmosphere experienced at a mountain top stage finish in the Tour De France. Rider Ben Millar makes a big final effort to reach the finish line at the top of the hill through the large crowds shouting support. I liked the B&W colour scheme for this photo. | Photo by Andrew Smith @andy.smith_photo |At this point of the Ken Harrod Memorial Road Race the skies opened up. Two riders were off the front of the men’s 1/2/3 race this lap. I was trying to get a different perspective of the challenge of riding in the deluge. | Photo by Katie Busick @KatieBusickPhotography |The decision to grab my cameras and head to this local cyclocross event last summer was very much a last minute one. But boy am I glad I did. This was taken at Priory Park, Reigate in the south east of the UK. The sun was out and as it was setting the colours really started to pop. Again I soon got bored with the normal actions shots and cracked the shutter speeds right down to see what I could come up with. I love the light and the motion blur in this one as the background and foreground merge as one, it captures a fantastic evening of summer cross at its finest. | Photo by Simon Edwards @simon_edwards_studio |Strade Bianche. It doesn’t need much explanation. It’s in my opninion the most beautiful cycling race there is. I took the plane to photograph the race and this photo was one of the best moments of my life, seeing Pogačar lifting his bike. I’m also thankful for photographer Xavier Pereyron who let me go with him for this race. | Photo by Elias Rom @rom.images |Racers circling the course at the Colorado State Patrol test track, near Golden, Colorado shortly after a late afternoon thunderstorm had passed, leaving a spectacular rainbow. August 20, 2024. | Photo by Reid Neureiter @reidnewphoto |The focus, the suffering, the mud, the rain. It’s as simple as ‘this is cross’. Jules Birks at Somerhill in the London & SE Cross League. | Photo by Alex Rout @agr9 |The bright sun casts stark shadows as the silhouetted rider leaps over the barrier. | Photo by Amanda Crow @a_crow_photography |Racing from dark to light and back to dark again at the Seattle Volunteer Park Crit.| Photo by Steve Everist @steveverist |On stage 15 of the 2024 Giro d‘Italia Georg Steinhauser put on a brave ride in his iconic style always keeping an aero position all the way up the endless, brutal Livigno Mottolino final ascent. He couldn‘t stop the almighty Tadej Pogacar but surely gave his very best. | Photo by Sina S. Eetezadi @eetezadi |Tour De France Stage 9 – The iconic gravel stage. Jasper Stuyven launches a late attack to try and secure the stage win on the final gravel sector. After a long day of walking from Troyes to the gravel sector and securing a good spot, I was able to capture the moment precisely when he was solo off the front engulfed by dust. | Photo by Nate Rawsthorne @nate.r_photography |In 2013 I rode the Sellaronda in the dolomites with my son Jan; he is riding on the Bindelweg, in the background you can see the Marmolda. | Photo by Günter Kraemer @ginder_kraemer |The peloton chasing down a strong breakaway at the Grand Prix de Quebec, up the famous Cote de la Montagne. This was my first time being able to spectate this race in person and see many of the world’s best cyclists up close. The old city of Quebec transports spectators to the cobble climbs of Europe and the feeling was electric. Absolutely unreal. | Photo by Filip Funk @filipfunkphoto |Riders tackle the off camber section at the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome, home of the MFG Cyclocross Starcrossed race. | Photo by Blake Dahlin @blakedahlin |This an epic moment, the final kilometre of the TransPortugal ROADS 6th stage, very harsh weather and the mix of hard rain and fog in the climate to Foia mountain, in the Algarve. | Photo by Agnelo Quelhas @agneloquelhasphotography |This photo was taken at a CX event in Linlithgow, Scotland. It was an extremely windy day and one part of the circuit was particularly exposed to the high winds. I was looking for a way to show from the photos how windy it was and noticed the tape flapping around vigorously. The tape was being blown so far into the circuit that it framed this riders face. | Photo by Andrew Smith @andy.smith_photo |I like to ride in the early mornings, when you can enjoy an entire place all to yourself. The quiet allows you to connect with your surroundings on a level you wouldn’t always appreciate. You see things from a different perspective. | Photo by Toby Willis @tobychillis |Dans le cadre majestueux du Parc du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles, les coureurs de la Brussels Classic saluent la foule, dans le décor grandiose de ce monument historique.| Photo by Nancy Badoux @nbx_cycling_pictures |
