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Amongst all the activity of the holiday season, there's something quietly wonderful happening: hundreds of superb cycling photos being entered into the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards, in turn raising thousands of dollars for cancer research.
For the last nine years, these awards have been a showcase of the best in cycling photography, across both professional and amateur categories. This year we're delighted to be involved again, in collaboration with Leeanne Gatien – the wife of Mark Gunter, the much-missed Australian cycling photographer the awards were established in memory of.
This year, we have a panel of five respected photographers adjudicating the awards, with the pro photographers duking it out for the prestige of the perpetual trophy. The amateur photographers are in the running for prizes from our friends at Velocio, who have generously donated to this competition.
If you'd like to get involved, there's still time (although not much!). Entries are open until 10am January 6 (ADST), at which point our panel of esteemed judges will get to work on the hard task of deciding the 2024 Mark Gunter Photographers of the Year.
Professional category
The photo was taken on the stairs leading to the stands of the Roman amphitheatre of Pompeii, before the start of the Giro d'Italia stage. | Photo: Ivan Benedetto @benedettoivan |This photo was taken at the presentation of the San Sebastian Classic. The riders were having a moment of relaxation before a tough race in Basque territory. | Photo: Aritz Arrambari Goenaga @ziklix_photo |I usually work at trail running events but when winter comes, I can't resist going to local CX races like this Auvergne Rhône Alpes championship, a cold and muddy day in the French alps. | Photo: Jean-Baptiste Joly Lavrieux @jb_joly |Lachlan Morton on Day 12 of his lap around Australia: One of the toughest days of the trip left him with a thousand-yard stare as he rode into camp, barely able to walk, let alone move. He eased into an ice bath, an inflatable kids' pool, and the emotion, or perhaps the lack thereof, etched on his face said it all. | Photo: Karter Machen @kartermachen |This drone shot was taken during this year’s Transcontinental race. This section is the Bosnian mountains near Sarajevo. The rider in the bottom of the shot is Jana Kesenheimer who was holding a strong lead for the women’s race. Riding 400km per day and sleeping only a couple of hours each night, she went on to take first place finishing in Istanbul Turkey hundreds of km’s later. A truly amazing performance. | Photo: Tom Gibbs @Bicycle_factory |Patrick Schnetzer (Austria) and Bernd Mlady (Germany) collide during the Men Elite Cycle-ball Match for Gold/Final at the 2024 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships Bremen. | Photo: Oliver Hassell @ollyhassellphotography |Sunflowers and cycling have long been linked and are part of the imagination of any photographer, especially those who, like me, grew up seeing the iconic photos of D. Graham Watson. In stage 4 of the Vuelta a Burgos 2024, an individual time trial, while I was looking for a location to take photos, I passed in front of a beautiful field of sunflowers and the decision was made instantly. That was the place! Although the light was very harsh due to the time and the very high temperatures of that day, as the cyclists passed by, I was able to look for different alternatives and take different photos, but I think this is the one that best sums up the day. | Photo: Tino Alvarez Rodriguez @tinosemeyes |While shooting gravel riders in the woods in Cologne, Germany I managed to get this panning shot through the dark trees. | Photo: Jack Schofield @jackyscho |The Welsh Mens Team Pursuit team proudly wearing red to compete and win at the British National Track Championships, proudly wearing red. | Photo: Jude Bytheway @cyclingbythewayStage 20 of La Vuelta was amazing. The scenery, the colours, the race...everything was in place. A stage to enjoy! | Photo: Naike Ereñozaga True @naikefotosport |
Amateur category
Today’s route was ride both sides of the Col du Tourmalet. A straight up-down-up-down. The first side in the morning was gloriously warm, clear blue skies - a real privilege to be on the mountain. But side 2 was the complete opposite and shows just how much a few hours in the high peaks can change. I followed my Norwegian friend, Knut. As I hung back I could make out his silhouette in the rolling mist; capturing the mood of the mountain perfectly. | Photo: Ian Kear-Bertie @bertbehindthelens |A young cyclist watches the the men's UCI Pro field at the Trek USCX Rochester Cyclocross race prepare for the start. | Photo: Robert Mullen @robertmullz.jpg |It takes a village to put on a national event. I like to capture some of the unique characters that make cycling a special experience for fans and athletes alike. Track announcer Alfred Nash, an actual rocket scientist and multi time national beard and mustache champion calls the action during the USA Cycling Elite & Para-cycling Track Cycling National Championships at the VELO Sports Center in Carson, California, USA on July 11, 2024. | Photo: Craig Huffman @craigsclicks |The first corner of the ground floor of the 2024 TDU carpark race. | Photo: Glenn Buckler @gbvision_active |One of the challenges in photographing an office park crit is not making it look like an office park crit. Strade Bianche had been run the day before (March 2, 2024) and I was having some serious FOMO ('Fear Of Missing Out," a slang term for the feeling you get when you miss an event you would very much like to attend) looking at the pictures and video of those beautiful white roads coming out of Italy. When the basic action shots are done, I like to explore familiar venues and look for new perspectives and new angles and in this case, I tried to make use of the corporate landscape to create a more abstract, layered and divided composition. | Photo: William Kurtz @williamkurtzphoto |Much needed rest after climbing Skyuka Mountain Road in North Carolina. | Photo: James Bongard @bongardjames |The year 2024 has been a great year for women's cycling. Since I got into cycling I have seen its continued growth, made up of races that are uncertain and exciting until the last kilometer, and this season it was even more so. | Photo: Andrea Zaghi @_r_o_a_d_s_ |Klasika de San Sebastián 2024 | Photo: Oscar Blanco @oblanco78 |Crit racing at Milton Keynes Bowl, UK | Photo: Adam Raffe @artofcross |The closing lap of a wet, dirty and tough cyclocross race at Garvey Park, Perth. Mark pushes on through a deep sand section as the sun sets behind him. | Photo: Lyndon Greeshaw @lyndo__g |
