ZW Photography

Giro ‘26, Stage 21.

Rome is such a great final stage. You can’t find a better backdrop to run around and take photos of skinny men in Lycra in front of. Yesterday I got to do it with one of my oldest and best friends who happened to be in Rome for the weekend, that made it extra special.

Also, seeing another incredible friend of mine standing on that podium was so special. reminding everyone he isn’t going anywhere 🥹🫶

6th Giro done for me, now for some downtime before the big dance in July!

Giro ‘26, Stage 19.

Man that felt good, best spot in a stage I’ve shot in what feels like years. The Dolomites are the best mountain range in cycling, period. They’re my favourite mountains in the world and today the Passo Giau just did its thing as we ran around like crazy trying to capture it all.

Days like these are the ones you live for in this job, they’re the ones you slog through endless transition stages to finally get to sink your teeth into, at the end of three huge weeks it’s almost a relief when you’ve got this in front of you.

Sepp won, that’s so cool, he’s such a wicked guy, but also Jai’s up onto the podium - Mr Third Week really riding into his own, let’s see what tomorrow brings 👀 No flights to RideLondon booked for me this time 🫪

Can we start a petition to have a Dolomites stage every year at the Giro? Insane to me to have this at your disposal and go and use Monte Grappa or the Apennines instead 🫠

Anyway, one stage to go (because the last one never counts).

Giro ‘26, Stage 7.

Wow. That was a good day. It sounds very precious to say that very few days at work are truly fantastic when work itself is this good, but it’s a slog a lot of the time. Today was one of those days that you dream about when you’re shooting another motorway transition day.

From the Tyrrhenian Sea all the way to the top of Blockhaus, a 244km long mountain stage in the big ‘26 is pretty old school, I can’t say I saw many riders beyond the top 10 enjoying themselves. Nevertheless, I had a ball.

Harold had mentioned to me this morning that he’d found an insane coast shot, when the head of navigation talks, I listen. He knows what he’s doing. Scrambling up the hiking path overlooking this bridge I was waiting impatiently for the peloton to turn up, I knew it was gonna be special. They appeared out of the tunnel, in a beautiful, orderly line, an absolute blessing.

It’s gotta be one of my favourite photos I’ve shot at the Giro, everything about it makes me happy and shooting it was a genuine joy, so I guess it was no surprise my great morale carried me through the 200km “shortcut” we had to take to get to the foot of Blockhaus.

For whatever reason, back when I shot that climb in 2022 I convinced myself it was ugly, while far from the Tourmalet, it’s a bloody nice place to take bike racing photos. Jonas did what we all expected - but Felix pushed him all the way, so that’s some hope until the TT day at least 🥲

To top it all off Harry and I had what we both agree to be the best pasta of our lives tonight. Ristorante La Cantina in Villanova, just about Pescara in Abruzzo - the most underrated region in all of Italy 🫶

What a day 🥹

Flanders ‘26.

While Roubaix is my favourite race, nothing beats the Flanders’ spectacle. 1 million people lining the roads, almost all of whom actually know what’s going on in a sporting context - true fans with true passion, for a sport I’ve loved my whole life, how can you not get caught up in the excitement??

Pog rode off, as he tends to do. This time with far slimmer margins than previous editions, which is inspiring all kinds of hope for a fiercely close Roubaix next week.

At the same time, Remco coming to town today might be our saviour for future editions. 3rd on debut, some true grit and grinta on show and some haters deservedly silenced, it’s gotta be tough being a Belgian superstar but he cracks on and I don’t see why he can’t win a Ronde in the next few years.

No finish line today for me, not through lack of trying 💀 I was once more met with the unstoppable combination of someone who was no doubt bullied their entire school life being given some power to exercise over their fellow man (a security guard with no critical thinking skills following orders). This thwarted my last ditch effort to make the finish after some truly remarkable navigation on my behalf and some ace riding from my moto pilot Tom, hear all about it on the next episode of Race Chasers 🤠🥲🫡

Also, I really really hope Wout wins Roubaix, that’d do wonders for morale.

Anyway, I’m happy with today, I got some stuff I’ve not got before at Flanders, I improved stuff I’d done previously and most importantly of all, Roubaix is now less than a week away 🥹