Tour de France 2009

Fantastic Netherlands Archive set on Flickr

Renners worden bevoorraad / Cyclists being provisioned,
originally uploaded by Nationaal Archief.

The National Archive of the Netherlands has posted 28 images of past Tours de France.

There's inaugural winner Maurice Garin, Eddy Merckx with Joop Zoetemelk in 1973, Anquetil in '63, a podium girl with winner, circa 1928, and 20-something more.

These are just 10 kinds of awesome. Take some time, and browse through them slowly.

The Tour in high resolution

The Big Picture - Boston.com | 2008 Tour de France

When I worked for CNN.com, we had an AP photo feed, which had a web interface into its OS/2 heart.

I used to love to browse the feed during cycling season, because it offered full-resolution versions of the photos you (rarely) see in your local newspaper. The Big Picture is a new weblog that gives web viewers a look at these images in medium resolution, but still much larger than you typically get on the web or in your daily fishwrap.

The Tour is their featured topic for Monday, with images ranging from Didi Senft to Riccardo Ricco to the rainy Stage 8 final sprint. Definitely worth a look.

ESPN offers excellent Tour slideshow

ESPN.com | ZOOM Gallery - 94th Tour de France

ESPN.com has an awesome, full-screen slideshow of some of their best photos from the 2007 Tour. I don't think the captions were written by cycling fans, though - one of the featured photos shows Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans' “stage-ending duel.”

Stage 20 photo galleries

Merckx w/Armstrong, Bennati, final podium

GrahamWatson.com | Tour de France Stage 20 photo gallery

Soler, Evans, final jerseys

CyclingNews.com | Stage 20 photo gallery

Graham Watson exhibiting in London

County Hall Gallery | Eyes on the Tour de France

Graham Watson is the creator of many of the iconic images of the Tour during the last 25 years. His photography often transcends the competition of the Tour, bringing in the landscape and the surroundings that make the Tour such a great race.

With the Tour coming to his hometown, Watson has a showing in London, at the County Hall Gallery just 50 yards from the London Eye. The exhibit runs through July 9th, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closing at 5 on July 5th) and is FREE.

More than 200 of Watson's best Tour photos are on exhibit, with many available for purchase. If you plan on visiting London for the Prologue, don't miss this exhibit.

Simoni takes stage win, Di Luca holds jersey at Giro

Yahoo! eurosport | Simoni conquers the Zoncolan

Saunier Duval's Gilberto Simoni dominated the last mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia, but couldn't kill the Killer.

Simoni, who won atop Monte Zoncolan in 2003, repeated the success, finishing with teammate Leonardo Piepoli 7 seconds ahead of CSC's Andy Schleck. Race leader Danilo (Killer) Di Luca, dropped 6 kilometers from the finish, scratched his way to the line 31 seconds behind Simoni in 4th, leaving him a healthy 2:24 gap in the overall standings to Schleck in 2nd and 2:28 to Simoni in 3rd.

It was the first race up the climb's difficult western side, but Di Luca didn't crack, and it looks like the Saturday time trial will be decisive. It's unlikely but possible that Di Luca could lose 2:24 to Andy Schleck in a TT, but Simoni's grip on 3rd looks especially tenuous. And who is nipping at Simoni's heels? Former teammate and archrival Damiano Cunego, who sits 1:01 behind Simoni's final podium spot.

CSC's David Zabriskie, who was 5th in the 2004 TT world championships (run on Saturday's course), told CyclingNews:

“You know, I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence. I'm just a big hairy American winnin' machine.”

More seriously, Zabriskie said he's been working for Schleck, but hopes to do well in Saturday's TT. He was 4th in Stage 13's uphill time trial.

Also:

CyclingNews.com | Giro Stage 17 - Simoni: King of Zoncolan | Stage 17 photos

GrahamWatson.com | Giro d'Italia Stage 17 Photo Gallery

California Stage 2 photo galleries

GrahamWatson.com | Tour of California Stage 2 photo gallery

CyclingNews.com | Tour of California Stage 2 photo gallery

PezCyclingNews | JJ Stomps to #3: Photo essay

Scott Lee's Sacramento gallery

Flickr'ing the ToC prologue

So far, there are two sets of photos worth checking out at Flickr on today's Tour of California prologue: Leslie Veen's and David Schloss's.

My faves:

Paolo Bettini warms up, by Leslie Veen

and

CSC climb the hill, by David Schloss

Also:

Basso up close and personal

The Specialized Angel

Ken Conley checks in, with my favorites, I think, being this shot of Leipheimer passing a shreiking bright banner. and this one of Stuart O'Grady, suffering up Telegraph Hill.

Update Monday a.m.:

Graham Watson's prologue gallery

Casey Gibson checks in at VeloNews, and I would say he's got one shot where he outdoes the master.

CyclingNews.com | Prologue photo gallery

The Paceline (free subscription req.) | Three Sets of CA Prologue Pics

More from Flickr: Great shot of Hincapie showing the colors by 1115; Saul Raisin working the crowd, by on2wheelz (who has dozens of good shots); and just look at all of Ken Conley's pics (warmup set/race set): I especially love Jason Donald with the big burrito, the Angel, and this shot of Chris Baldwin.

Update to the update: Competitor.com has a nice gallery up, as does ProCyclingPress, a site I've never seen before.

Photographing a bike race

Ken over at kwc.org wrote a terrific how-to on shooting bike races, and there's no arguing with results: He got some awesome shots from last year's Tour of California, and from the Sea Otter Classic. With the Tour of California underway, I thought I would expand on Ken's guide.

Ken nails down a lot of the technical questions you've got to address, many of which are similar to any high-speed sports shooting: Use the fastest glass (lens with a low numerical f-stop) you can afford, use manual focus when the camera's autofocus can't keep up, and mind your depth of field.

I've also been trying to figure this out. The pictures I got at the 2005 Tour de Georgia were, as a group, a big disappointment. At that point, I was using two point-and-shoots, a Casio Exilim EX-Z30 and a Nikon Coolpix 880. The worst thing of all was the shutter lag. I got into what I thought were great positions for a lot of shots, but I only got a handful of good shots, and plenty like this.

That was enough to drive me into the arms of the Nikon D70 (since replaced by the Nikon D80, and very similar to the less expensive Nikon D40). The DSLR has made a huge difference in the technical quality of my photos, and I know, given more money, what I can do to improve that quality even more. A big advantage of the digital SLRs over most of the point-and-shoots is their ability to shoot continuously at 2, 3 or up to 8 shots per second. If you're using this mode, keep in mind that you'll get faster repeats if you're using “JPEG Fine” than if you're shooting in RAW mode, since the camera can write the smaller JPEG files faster. If you're stuck using a point and shoot, try to shoot pictures of the riders before and after the race, or shoot to limit the speed of the action (from in front of the field instead of beside, for instance).

Beside the technical consideration, there are a lot of logistical issues to consider about shooting a bike race.

For instance, there's only one point in the whole length of a bike race where you're guaranteed to get a good picture that tells a story, and that's the finish line. The quintessential cycling shot awaits, of the triumphant rider, arms raised, with a buzzing, colorful peloton just behind. The downside: dozens of other people will get that same shot, including pros set up with tripods just past the finish line. You, on the other hand, will probably have to hand-hold or use a monopod in the heavy crowds around the finish. Pedco's UltraPod is another option, providing a Velcro strap that can be cinched around crowd barriers or street signs to provide a steady mount.

So it's key to think about where you want to set up. One thing that's awesome about bike racing is the accessibility of riders. Rider warmups before time trial stages are typically wide open to the public, with riders set up next to the team RV, and riders will often work an autograph line on the way to or from the rider sign-in before each day's stage. After the stage, the day's winners and the race overall leaders have to hang around for the award presentation, and you can frequently shoot portraits and shots of riders with the fans. Typically, organizers will set up a cordoned-off area for the pros at the actual presentation, but with a 200mm zoom you usually can shoot the podium from outside the velvet rope.

Time trials are fabulous, since each rider will come by in turn. One tip I've used a couple of times: Riders start out from an elevated start house, ride down a ramp into a fenced-off chute, then usually turn as they exit the fenced-off area. It's often hard to get a good spot around the starthouse and storm fencing, but usually a lot more open as the riders exit the chute. That's where I got this shot of Lance Armstrong at the 2005 Tour de Georgia (still with the point-and-shoot). You'll have a couple of hours of riders coming through every 2 minutes or so, which gives you a great chance to get your settings dialed in. Since the race is on public roads, you can usually get there early, with a load of gear, and set up a tripod and a cooler. It can become almost mechanical, but there are still surprises. At the 2006 Tour de Georgia time trial over Lookout Mountain, I got a good spot on one of the day's toughest hills, and was set up on the left side of the road as riders came through. For some reason, though, the strongest riders -- Zabriskie, Danielson, and Landis -- were among a small minority of riders riding in the center or right-hand side of the road, so my shots of those three key riders were neither as tight nor as sharp as of riders before and after them.

Frequently, road races finish with a loop around a downtown area, so you get multiple cracks at the action. Corners are nice, since the riders are leaned over and you can get a lot of different angles by positioning yourself inside or outside the corner.

A stage takes as much as 6 or 7 hours to ride, so you can often get more than one look at the riders, bumping up your chance of catching an important breakaway, an interesting backdrop, or a great fan shot. Make sure you've got maps of the area, and plan out how you will get from shooting location A to shooting location B. Generally, stage races provide a “race log” that estimates when the riders will reach each intersection at different average speeds. These also help you estimate what's going on in the peloton: If they come in behind schedule, the group is taking it easy. On the other hand, you can easily find your way from Point A to Point B blocked by a breakaway that closes the road, keeping you from making a planned rendezvous with the riders.

If you find yourself chasing the racing on a regular basis, you might consider a portable radio scanner. With one, you can listen in to race radio as race organizers track breakaway riders, road closures, and unexpected problems.

I've only gone to one mountaintop finish, when Floyd Landis shadowed Tom Danielson to the top of Brasstown Bald last year. My wife and I went to the top with hours to spare, picked out a spot right along the course, and by the time the leaders showed up, the crowd was so thick that I couldn't get a shot of the showdown, and had to settle for action shots of lower-placed riders and the leaders at the presentation. And keep your eyes and ears open: That woman with the umbrellas and the shawl could be your race leader's mother.

A bike race is a great opportunity to try out a new lens (or body). In most cities, there are companies that rent out pro-level photography equipment by the day, week, or month. Day rates typically range from 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price, or $10-$100 per day, with discounts for weekly or monthly rental typically available. Here in Atlanta, for instance, we've got Professional Photo Resources. The reason the pros use multiple bodies is to keep from having to change lenses under fire; they can have a supertelezoom on one body and a wide angle on another.

The cool kids at Flickr say “closer is better”, preferring stuff like this and this, but follow your bliss. I like this shot from last year's Stage 6 better than its tack-sharp equivalent, and this pedestrian peloton shot because it may be the last time I ever see Floyd Landis race competitively.

Other resources:

Flickr bicycle racing group | Sports action group

SportsShooter website

Graham Watson to kick off Boulder photo exhibit with visit next week

VeloNews | Graham Watson to Visit Boulder for Exhibit Opening

Cycling's best-known photographer, Graham Watson, will kick off an exhibit of his work in Boulder, Colorado next week.

Watson, who has been photographing the Tour de France for almost 30 years, will sign books and posters at Boulder Cycle Sport Thursday, Feb. 15th from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in advance of the exhibit opening next door at Amante Coffee at 7:30.

The exhibit will run for three weeks, through March 9th, and feature more than 30 of Watson's best photos of European road racing.

The event is free and open to the public.