FROM 2005 TO 2010, I HAVE BEEN PORTRAYING PROFESSIONAL CYCLISTS. WHAT BEGAN AS A SPONTANEOUS APPROACH TO MY FAVOURITE SPORT ENDED UP AS A BOOK THAT I HAVE COME TO VIEW AS A PORTRAIT OF A GENERATION OF CYCLISTS.

BACK IN 2005, PROFESSIONAL CYCLING HAD ALREADY GONE THROUGH SOME DIFFICULT TIMES DUE TO DOPING SCANDALS, BUT BETWEEN 2006 AND NOW – 2010 – THE SPORT AND ITS PROTAGONISTS HAVE HAD TO FACE ACCUSATIONS, OSTRACISM AND THE LOSS OF SPONSORSHIPS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I HAVE WITNESSED HOW PEOPLE WITHIN THE MÉTIER, RIDERS OR TEAM MEMBERS, FOUND IT DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE A STAND, TO FIND OR DEFEND A CONSISTENT POINT OF VIEW, AND HOW THEY WERE CONTINUOUSLY CONFRONTED WITH THE EXISTENTIAL PROBLEMS OF THEIR SPORT – SOMETIMES AS MAIN ACTORS AND OTHER TIMES AS BYSTANDERS. I HAVE KNOWN THE PELOTON, THE PACK, AS A COMPLEX STRUCTURE OF ALLIANCES AND DEPENDENCY, OF DISCREPANCY AND MEMBERSHIP, FASCINATING IN ITS OWN RULES.

MOST OF THE RIDERS I PHOTOGRAPHED BEGAN THEIR CAREER IN PRE-INTERNET, PRE-MOBILE AND PRE–GPS TIMES, WHEN CYCLING WAS STILL PRIMARILY A EUROPEAN SPORT, CHARACTERISED BY AN UNWRITTEN CODE OF CONDUCT, WHICH BY NOW, UNDER PRESSURE FROM GROWING DISUNITY AND A NEW ECONOMIC CLIMATE, IS DISSOLVING.

DESPITE ALL THIS TROUBLE, HOWEVER, I COULD NEVER RESIST TO THE BEAUTY OF COMPETITION DAYS, NOR CAN I RESIST SOME OF THE VALUES AND ENTERPRISES THAT THIS SPORT REQUIRES FROM WHOEVER DECIDES TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST. THE PELOTON COLLECTS PERSONAL STATEMENTS FROM NEARLY ALL THE RIDERS I HAD THE CHANCE TO PHOTOGRAPH AND WILL HOPEFULLY REMAIN AS AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THESE FASCINATING – AND SOMETIMES EXASPERATING – SPORTSMEN.

THE BOOK IS SELLING OUT QUICKLY.
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