Tour de France 2011 – A long way to Paris
This year’s riders of the Tour de France covered 3430.5 km (2131.6 miles), divided into 21 stages, according to the Tour’s official website.
What you may not know is that the Reuters pictures team covering 2011′s most-watched sporting event managed to tally up some 10,000 km (6213 miles).
I was excited to cover the race but aware that despite careful planning, any big job can have its moments of near disaster. After meeting at the Reuters office in Paris with team leader (and Italy chief) photographer Stefano Rellandini and French photographer Pascal Rossignol we checked all our equipment, made sure our laptops were working, that our passwords were valid and that Mifi was setup. We picked up our local phones and configured wireless transmission devices from cameras. One thing’s for sure — the planning stage is essential on a big job like this, and a good team spirit never hurts either.
The next day we drove to Vendée in the east of France, where the race was due to start and met with our veteran bike drivers Jacques Clawey and Michel Vatel. This year’s team consisted of three photographers. Photographers on bikes take two types of pictures during the race: postcard (landscape shots) and action. When you’re on the postcard bike the rules are clear: you can only take photos once the bike has stopped. Take a pic when the bike is moving, and you could be out. The ‘action’ bike’s rule? Don’t crash.
Witness to a cobblestone crash
I am writing this on the road from rural eastern France at the end of the fourth stage of the month-long Tour de France. It’s hot and dusty outside with temperatures at about 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). On the backs of the motorcycles in protective gear we are suffering as we spend all day in the sun. Fortunately there has been a lot happening in these early stages of the Tour and the images have been worth it.
On the third stage of the Tour between Wanze in Belgium and Arenberg in France, I was riding on the second of our two motorcycles. The second bike is not authorized to shoot the riders on the move, but instead can overtake the pack and then stop on the side of the road so the photographer can shoot the riders as they pass by. The third stage was very special as the last 50 kilometers were on the famous cobblestone backroads of northern France more commonly associated with the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic. This section is known as the “Hell of the North”. I have covered 21 Tour de France races, but never had the occasion to cover either Paris-Roubaix, nor shoot a cobblestone section.
Early in the stage, while listening in to the official two-way radio commentary, the race directors announced that all the motorcycles must travel directly to the arrival site bypassing this cobblestone sector at the end of the race because it was simply too narrow and too dangerous for everyone to work. Only a one-motorcycle pool would be authorized access. So, I took a chance and sped way ahead of the race. Our motorcyclist got the bike onto the cobblestone section and safely parked the bike off the road well before the race drew near. The day had been terribly hot and the impenetrable dust cloud thrown up from the accompanying official vehicles gave an aura of a foggy winter day rather than mid summer.
I was totally unfamiliar with this sector but I had a gut feeling that being on a tight bend would be the best place to shoot the riders because their trajectory would oblige them to pass very near me. I crouched low amongst the feet of the spectators tightly packed together on the side of the road. The first lead riders suddenly appeared and it became clear that the position was in fact a good one. The riders were passing within inches of me and I switched from my 16-35mm lens to a wider 15mm fisheye. Just as another group of riders appeared they suddenly collided and fell literally inches from me. My first thought was that they were going to land right on top of me but I kept my finger on the motordrive of my Canon 1D MkIV. Then Lance Armstrong appeared but skillfully avoided the fallen riders, then Contador, and again another group arrived and incredibly fell like skittles at exactly the same spot. I just kept shooting, this time with my 16-35mm.
Hi Eric,
excellent photos! Very dramatic and excellent idea to position yourself in the exact place for the crashes. Maybe you and a very famous soccer squid have something in common about looking into the future?!
Anyways, being a photojournalist in Denmark I am interested in your hardware setup on the motorcycle and transmitting the photos to the agency. Could you tell a little about the work-flow and the hardware you use?
Keep up the good work, and I hope your ability to look into the future will bring the rest of us more of your great shots.
Cheers,
Mick
Rain man
Tuesday March 10 was one of those days when the cat wouldn’t go outside. Had it been foolish enough to do so, it would probably have blown away or more likely, drowned. On England’s south coast huge waves battered the shoreline while in Western France the powerful storm ran a large freighter aground.
As commuters struggled with their umbrellas as they crossed London Bridge and winds reached 150Kph in France, Reuters Bucharest photographer Bogdan Cristel was climbing on the back of a 1000cc Honda Varadero to cover the first stage of the Paris-Nice cycling classic.
Bogdan has never covered a pro cycle race before and because he will be part of our team covering the month-long 2008 Tour de France cycle classic,
we had decided that this was a suitable event to get some training in with our professional motorcyclist Jacques Clawey. The idea was good – it just turned out to be the wrong day to do it.
Bogdane kume, next time apply for some event in sunny Montenegro…B)
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