Category Archives: Pro Racing

A Spanish cycling legend, UCI ProTour veteran and former US Postal domestique, Chechu Rubiera’s palmarès include a pair of Top 10 finishes at the Vuelta a España and multiple Giro d’Italia stage victories. But beyond his strength on a bike, it is his easy laughter and perfect manners for which he earned respect in the peloton and a spot on our trip.

Your full name is Jose Luis Rubiera Vigil. Where did the nickname Chechu originate?
When I was little, my mother used to listen to a soap opera on the radio. One of the characters was named Chechu. That’s where my name came from; no one calls me Jose Luis.

What sets the Vuelta a España apart from the Tour de France or Giro d’Italia?
I think a big difference between La Vuelta and the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia is that, with a few exceptions, during La Vuelta the riders, teams, mechanics and masseurs work with less pressure than in the other two races.

It’s also a race at the end of season, and major goals have already passed for most of the cyclists (Spring Classics, the Tour, the Giro…). Some even participate in preparation for the world championship, without pushing themselves at 200%.

This makes La Vuelta – especially from the spectator’s point of view – more accessible to meet riders in hotels, or at the starts and finishes. The riders leave the buses earlier than at the other races, like at the Tour for example, to go to the village and enjoy it without the pressure that’s usually present at the most important races. At the Tour de France they use all the time prior to departure for team meetings on the bus and to build their concentration. At La Vuelta, you can even see the cyclists after dinner, going out for a little walk around the hotel. Why? Because they are just more relaxed. They are professionals and the next race day they will give it everything, but they’re not under so much pressure from the sponsors and directors as they are at the other races. I think this way the essence of cycling is recovered a little bit, since nowadays it has been professionalized to extremes from which the audience does not always benefit.

The Category 1 climb, Puerto de Cotobello, is better known as Cima Chechu Rubiera. Tell us the story behind that climb.
It was a road used exclusively as a service road for a local mine. When the hill was opened to traffic, it was still unknown. My friends encouraged me to climb the hill on my bike. I loved it: no traffic, beautiful views and constant climbing without being extreme or inhuman. I proposed it to La Vuelta’s organizers for a final stage of 2010 Vuelta and they liked it, and included it to the race. The local government and my cycling friends proposed to name it after me, and I got the privilege and honor that it’s known as the Chechu Rubiera climb.

You were born in northern Spain and still live there today. What makes this a great travel destination?
From the cycling perspective, it is a wonderful area for its scenery, mountains, forests and ports, which cyclists can enjoy at the right speed. Gastronomically is a perfect place for the cyclists to enjoy food, but I would highlight especially the countless examples of art and culture surrounding any route that can be seen from the saddle; the traces of people who inhabited these lands before us, ranging from prehistoric times to the Romans, through the Muslim and Christian kings.

What is your best memory from your days competing in Vuelta a España?
There are many. Team victories, several classifications among the Top 15, and especially the memory of seeing my parents cheering me on proudly from the side of the road in many different places in Spain.

RIDE WITH CHECHU RUBIERA ON TREK TRAVEL’S VUELTA A ESPAÑA VACATION»

For a group that set out to become the world’s most professional women’s amateur team in the peloton, signing a deal with Laura Massey was a no brainer. In doing so, not only did Drops Cycling Team add an accomplished cyclist–and current British Masters Champion–to their roster, but they also added an incredible leader to their team.

Briefly, tell us your story. How did your cycling career begin?
Well, my main sport used to be rowing. I rowed for my college and university (everyone in Cambridge rows!) and after several years of being relatively average, I decided it was time for a change of sport! I borrowed a road bike from a friend and did about 12 miles around the local lanes–I was knackered but I was addicted! I bought a basic aluminum road bike and started riding with the local Cambridge club. Looking back, I was a total liability–getting dropped on every slight lump and blowing up miles from home, having to be pushed back. But I loved it and kept persevering, doing the mid-week chain-gangs and time trials, and I finally developed some “cycling legs”. I began road racing in 2011/2012 and have been obsessed ever since.
 
 

 
What excites you most about the opportunity to race with Drops in 2016?
Being a UCI team means we have the opportunity to race on a world-stage in some pretty iconic races. This is a special opportunity. So special, in fact, that I decided to take a six month sabbatical from work (I am a management consultant in the pharmaceutical industry) to really allow myself to make the most of this opportunity. I am two months into the sabbatical and it is the best decision I ever made. I had to pinch myself on the start-line for the Tour of Flanders! I will be pinching myself again when we line up for the Tour of California next month. I am massively grateful to Bob Varney and everyone at Drops for giving me this opportunity.

Last year you won the British Masters Championship. What are your biggest goals for the upcoming season?
It sounds cheesy but my goal this year is just to enjoy my sabbatical and make the most of this amazing opportunity that I have been given by Drops. I want to get the most out of myself and see what I can achieve and how good a bike rider I can be without the stresses of work. Unlike the last few years (focused on UK racing), this year I don’t have a particular target race or result as this is a whole new level. I’m just going to give it my best shot each time I line up, suffer and see what happens. Last week this attitude got me a Top 20 at the Euskal Emakumeen Bira UCI 2.1 stage race in the Basque country so fingers crossed I can keep improving with more experience.
 
 

 
Who inspires you the most?
It has to be Lizzie Armitstead! Have you seen her legs?! It is inspiring to have a British World Champion who is currently so dominant.

Favorite place you’ve ever ridden and why?
For training, Denia in Spain (near Alicante) is my number one place–perfectly smooth rolling roads, nobody around, sunshine and a unique feel about it. The descent from the Montgo into Denia is magical. I also love the stretch of coastal road between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge in South Devon with its stunning sea/cliff views and aggressive ups and downs.

For racing, the Ardeche in Southern France was the most epic and beautiful race I have done.
 
 

 
 

While most of the South Island paid little attention to the recently announced routes of the 2016 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, Saanich cyclist Jordan Landolt did the same.

Words by Travis Paterson | January 26, 2016
Originally published in the Saanich News

 

 
 
The difference is that Landolt will actually be on some of those routes this summer. The 28-year-old spends the summer and fall season every year guiding “cyclist guests” through the scenic stages of all three Grand Tours (Italy, France and Spain) as a seasonal bike tour guide for Trek Travel.

“We are known as tour guides but are also luggage sherpas, language translators, shuttle drivers, wine connoisseurs, local historians, cycling partners, motivational speakers, bike mechanics, bartenders, problem solvers and just smiling faces making folks comfortable on their bike in a foreign place,” says Landolt, who just finished his fourth year as a guide.

It means ignoring the burn of his own legs and lungs and encouraging his physically exhausted guests (paying customers) to complete the final two kilometres of the gruelling summits of a Grand Tour.

Of course Landolt already loved tour cycling when he applied for the job in 2012. The former Saanich Braves junior player had moved on from hockey after a few pro seasons in Switzerland and, still in his early 20s, found long-distance cycling during a three-month trek through the U.S.

On a whim he applied to Trek Travel and beat out dozens of contestants in a survivor-type job application scheme.

“I flew to Wisconsin with 25 other hopefuls and after a rigorous full-day interview of team-building activities, public speaking, bike mechanics, picnic prep and role playing, they narrowed it down to 10 of us,” he said.

The rest of the week was spent learning and training, and by the end of the week, seven had jobs, including Landolt.
 
 

 
 
“Five days later I flew to Italy to guide my first trip in the Dolomites at the Giro D’italia. That year, Ryder Hesjedal won and I had no idea who he was.”

By 2013, Landolt was heavy into guiding – doing it 10 months of the year – and was beginning to take cycling seriously enough that he might consider racing. It happened during an impromptu ride during a day off in Mallorca, Spain in 2013.

“I was riding with another guide and through a mutual friend, we ended up meeting with Gerald Ciolek and Linus Gerdemann, then of African pro team MTN-Quebeka. Not household names here, but the German Ciolek wasn’t popular in Italy when he won the historic 2013 Milan San Remo (a race won seven times by cycling great Eddy Merckx).”

In cycling speak, Ciolek and Gerdemann were in world class form when, according to the code of cycling, Landolt jumped to the front of the group to “take some of the wind for the fellas.”

“It was a windy day and on a long flat stretch. As we turned the corner and out of the wind, [Ciolek] looked me up and down from my beat-up touring shoes to my second-hand ‘80s sunglasses and said, ‘You’ve got an engine…..lose some weight and you could probably be a strong time trials guy.’”

When he came back to Canada, Landolt sought coaching and found Houshang Amiri of the Pacific Cycling Centre and the Accent Inn/Russ Hays team. Then in 2014, Landolt won the 2014 B.C. elite time trial cycling championship.

Not bad for recreational tour guide.

“Amiri provided the necessary fine tuning and training [that led to] winning the B.C. time trial,” Landolt said.

Even if Landolt never wins another race, he can’t downplay a fateful moment like that. Later that summer Curtis Dearden of the Accent Inn/Russ Hays team won the Canadian national time trial championship. Landolt had the motivation and the service of coach and mentor Houshang Amiri (Pacific Cycling Centre).

Although tour guiding is mostly at a recreational pace, it also can provide some good impromptu training intervals, Landolt said, such as chasing down a lost guest who missed a turn or pushing a physically and mentally depleted guest the last two kilometres of Italy’s Stelvio (a climb so gruelling it’s only been in the Giro d’Italia four times).

Climbing the Stelvio, for those unaware, isn’t a Sunday ride. It’s the highest summit of all the Grand Tour.

“[Our] experience gets you so close you feel like you are part of it… cycling through the flocks of fans en route to the finish line just hours before the pro peleton.”

From there, the guests take a turn standing on the official podium before grabbing a cold beer and watching the nail-biting final kilometres on TV before the stage winners cross the line just meters away.

“Working as a guide with Trek Travel has taught me the foundations of cycling…” Landolt said. “More than anything it has taught me to challenge myself and to do things that scare me and feel the satisfaction of completing them or at least having the courage to try them. The 2014 B.C. ITT was a memorable and satisfying day for me, but first, or last, I would have been just as proud and content at the fact that I was there and gave it a shot.”

Learn more about our guide team»
 
 

 
 

You’ve seen the photos. Riders throwing their hands in the air as they cross the finish line. The dust covered peloton crushing the cobbles of Roubaix. But have you ever wondered who’s lucky enough to experience all the biggest moments from the best vantage point? Graham Watson has spent three decades documenting the sport and capturing races from the back of a motorbike. The pain, the glory, the determination and the heartbreak — nothing is safe from lens of cycling’s most famous photographer.

Tell us your story. What inspired you to pursue a career in photography? How did you get started in the cycling industry?

To be honest, I was so uninterested in studying at high school in London that by the time it came to leave at age 16, in 1972, most ‘normal’ careers were beyond my reach — and photography seemed like a nicer way to make a living anyway. I took a job in a ‘high-end’ portrait studio in central London, then bought a bicycle for the commute as I was only getting paid about $15 a week and couldn’t afford the train fare. I became a club racing-cyclist because of the daily mileage, then discovered the Tour de France on a visit to Paris in 1977. The rest is history. I sensed the adventures to be had by becoming a cycling photographer.

What is the most challenging aspect of photographing cycling?

I think it is the expense and logistics of travel. Cycling is most definitely a worldwide sport and you have to be in it 100-percent or you are wasting your time, hence a lot of traveling and little or no contact with family and friends for months on end. These days, you need a lot of clients to fund your travel, as few magazines or agencies have the cash to pay expenses. More clients means more income, and it can snowball even bigger too. But in turn there’s a long workflow each and every day. Such challenges, however, are more than compensated by achieving a lifestyle like no other.

What is your favorite race to photograph and why?

Paris-Roubaix is my favorite one-day race. It’s the maddest, fastest, most crazy day of the year. A race where good photography is guaranteed. I like a stage-race like the Tour de Romandie, or the Giro d’Italia – both are much quieter than the Tour de France and take place when there’s snow on the mountains, plenty of greenery in the valleys, and many fresh legs in the peloton too.

Tell us about your typical day at the Tour de France.

Depending on how much wine one drank the evening before, and therefore how much caffeine is needed to recover over breakfast, I’ll try to be at the start about two hours early to settle down and discuss the coming stage with my moto-driver. I’ll study the ‘race manual’ to identify scenic locations, and to anticipate the racing to-come – both aspects influence how I’ll photograph the stage. I like to leave behind the peloton unless there’s a definite chance of an early scenery shot. Leaving in the wake of the peloton allows me to get some early action shots of cyclists fiddling with their bikes or their clothing, and to see the race unwind too. You can predict a lot about what might happen later because of the early action. And you get to see if any of the big names are still as strong, as each day goes by – or are they getting weaker? Anticipation is everything in a sport and environment that is so beyond one’s control – anything can happen and often does, and being behind the peloton is the best place to observe. Once the racing unfolds, and once an escape has gotten clear, I make a decision as to when we pass the peloton, when we get far ahead in the search of that perfect scenery shot, and also when I need to start shooting the escape or the front of the peloton. Because a client like Trek needs 6-8 action shots of its riders each day, I have to guess the best way of doing this – to stop on a corner or on a descent, or just try to do some passing shots when we are crossing the peloton. It is quite hard to pick out individual riders from a 200-man peloton, but by the time the Tour starts I will already have photographed the team for the past six months, so I can see them from a long way off. In the Tour, the racing really starts in the last 90-minutes, and by this point I have to give up scenery and individual action shots and just photograph the race. It is the quickest 90-minutes I’ll ever experience! Before one knows it, the stage is over, the podium has taken place, and photographers like me are buried in their post-stage workflow. Three hours work is a minimum period post-stage, and by then it’s off to the hotel and trying to beat the annoyingly French tradition of closing the restaurants at 9pm. Behind the glamour of working the Tour and the supposed flirtation with French gastronomy is a reality that sees most of us eating in a fast-food outlet at least twice a week.

Describe your favorite moment that you’ve captured on camera.

After a 35-year-career, I think it came in this year’s Giro d’Italia! Richie Porte suffered a flat tire on Stage 10 and a rival teammate stopped to give him his front wheel. Such assistance was unheard of, and certainly something I’d never seen, let alone photographed. My images showed a true act of sportsmanship, which moved me greatly. Yet Simon Clarke and Richie had unknowingly broken the rules, and my images went around the world on Twitter and helped get them both fined and penalized on-time. We all had a good laugh a few days later, but I’ll remember those images for a long time to come.

What tips would you give aspiring photographers?

It’s hard to give advice without knowing the photographer or knowing the extent of his or her equipment. So I always suggest to keep things simple at first, using one camera body with one lens until their experience grows. It’s important and advantageous to know as much about your sport as is possible – this gives you a huge advantage over other non-cycling specialists. Always see the sport as a bigger thing than just sport. Cycling is a beautiful vocation, so make sure you also show the beauty of the sport as well as capturing those crisp action shots. Finally, a major issue in this day and age, take care not to get in the way of the cyclists. Keep in to the curb as much as you can, because a Tour peloton uses every inch of the road and they don’t take prisoners.

You have traveled the globe for work. Do you have a favorite vacation destination? What excites you most about this part of the world?

Switzerland is a place I can go back to time and time again. Its lakes and mountains make it the most beautiful country in Europe I think. And it is also a fantastic adventure playground. For all the same reasons, I love New Zealand too – a version of Switzerland in the southern hemisphere. But to be honest, I love all the places my ‘business’ takes me to – from Flanders to the Dolomites to Paris to central Spain to the Netherlands to Tuscany to Provence – and I always want to go back when there’s no work to be done.

The flight from Paris had been cancelled because the winds were too strong to land in Florence. For any other group, this may have been a foreboding sign. But for the Trek employees who had traveled from Waterloo, Wisconsin, to experience first-hand the splendor and suffering of Strade Bianche, it was all part of the adventure.

To call Strade Bianche a road race is to misrepresent its true nature. The one-day modern classic traces a grueling route through the most beautiful and punishing gravel roads in Tuscany. From a distance, the gravel roads look white, lending the race its name, which translates in English to “white roads.”

Strade has a reputation of being hard and dangerous, with climbs that are so steep the pitches don’t translate on television and vicious winds that have sent racers barreling off the road. Climbing on gravel is a fundamentally different experience than climbing on pavement. It’s impossible to plant the rear wheel on the loose surface, so every climb becomes an exercise not just in fitness but also in agility. Even Trek Factory Racing’s top pros resolved that this race, though it has been run for only eight years and is not officially a staple on the Spring Classics calendar, is more difficult than the legendary Paris-Roubaix.
 
 

 
 
So, what were ten Trek employees from Wisconsin doing in Tuscany? Six years ago, Trek VP Joe Vadeboncoeur, who is affectionately known around the office as “Joe V” due to the bewildering number of vowels in his surname, began chaperoning trips to one-day classics. Joe, who has now ridden nearly all of the classic one-day races, designed the program to expose Trek employees to racing first-hand. “When you work in the industry,” he says, “you can’t really understand what you do and why you do it until you’ve seen the sport at the top level and actually experienced what the pros do every day. It’s a vital experience, because it alters your perspective in a way that informs everything you do from that point forward.”

Most one-day classics are accompanied by a Gran Fondo, often referred to as a “citizens’ race,” where non-professionals, recreationalists, and, yes, even a motley crew of jet-lagged cycling industry employees can ride the course a day before the pros. The ten Trek employees—creatives, engineers, product managers, and others—went to Italy not just to watch the pros, but also to test their mettle in the citizens’ race.
 
 

 
 
Joe V’s love affair with the Classics began decades ago. Each spring, as the weather was warming, he’d wait with anticipation for those second Sundays in March and April when the biggest one-day races were held. For Joe V, the charm of the Classics is unpredictability.

“We all love the Grand Tours,” he says, “but at the start, there are only a handful of real contenders. A week into a three-week race, usually only one of three riders can actually win it. Two weeks in, only one of two riders can win.”

In the one-day classics, on the other hand, there may be fifty or more riders who have a real chance to win. With 1K to go, there are often a dozen or more riders barreling toward the finish together, and this is where the beauty of the classics shines. One-day classics are usually won by the hard-men of the sport, those strong, calloused riders who win not just on fitness but also on strength of character.
 
 

 
 
And herein lies the lesson at the core of Joe V’s program. There is no better way to build strength of character that will improve work than to go wholeheartedly into an experience like this one.

After the cancelled flight, the Trek employees made it to Florence by bussing from Bologna to Sienna. They battled the headwinds and blinding dust, the loose gravel and brutal climbs, despite having trained outside only a handful of times, at most, through the bitterly cold Wisconsin winter. Every employee finished the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo. And, when they returned to Waterloo, their approach to the day-to-day work was informed by this accomplishment. Their vision was changed, their perspective altered. It’s exactly what Joe V likes to see.
 
 

 
 
EXPERIENCE STRADE BIANCHE WITH TREK TRAVEL»

Last Saturday, 450 fearless riders set out with a singular goal: to ride across the state of Wisconsin. Starting with the first glimpse of sunlight at 6:30AM, we gladly said goodbye to Iowa, crossed the mighty Mississippi River, and set our sights on Lake Michigan. Our objective was clear: a one-day, 175-mile ride to raise money for the Wisconsin Bike Federation. Our sanity, on the other hand, was questionable.

The forecast called for rain and headwinds, but we still showed up. Wisconsinites are a rare breed. The weather doesn’t scare us because we spend most of our year either surviving harsh winters or talking about them. We are proud, and we’ll go to great lengths to express our love for this mid-western home. And most of all, we are strong. Give us a challenge and we’ll raise our glass to wish you good luck.

So with a lot of excitement and a little hesitation we set out on our epic, hard-as-hell ride across the greatest state ever. These are my top five moments from the day:
 
 

 
 

The Awesome Bus

On Friday afternoon we boarded the Awesome Bus at Trek’s headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. There was a sign in the bus windshield that said, “Have a great day,” but surely it was more than great. The cafeteria supplied us with water, beer and plenty of snacks. Our first destination was Madison to pick up the Trek Factory Racing riders and staff. Among others were Linsey Corbin, Bauke Mollema, and Wisconsin-native Matthew Busche.

As it turns out, when you put a bunch of bike-geeks and athletes on a bus for two hours, there is no lack of topics to discuss. I was lucky enough to sit next to Linsey Corbin and easy conversation passed the time. The highlight of the ride came when Linsey said she had never cycled this far before. My first thought was, “Great, we’re all in this together.” But enthusiasm quickly turned to apprehension. “If the five-time Ironman world champion and American record holder hasn’t ridden this far, who am I to do it?”
 
 

 
 

Robbie Ventura and Jens Voigt

Friday night before the ride, Jens Voigt and Robbie Ventura took the stage to get us excited about the adventure ahead. Jens, who later said he used gears on this ride so small that he didn’t know they existed just one year ago, entertained us with stories of burger stops on training rides that landed well among this Wisconsin crowd. Robbie, on the other hand, offered slightly more practical advice with five tips to make this inaugural event a success.

1. Ride Safe: Keep your head up, ride predictably, and follow the rules of the road
2. Be Self-Sufficient: Supporting 450 riders over 175 miles is difficult. Carry gear to fix flat, have a route guide, and bring layers for the weather.
3. Nutrition and Hydration: It is important to stay hydrated (1 bottle an hour) and keep eating (200-300 calories per hour) on such a long ride.
4. Pace Yourself: If you go out too hard, you’re going to make the day longer than it already is.
5. Help Someone: Fix a flat, offer food, slow down to stay with someone, encourage each other, and smile. It will help you as much or more than it helps them.
 
 

 
 

 
 

The Beloit Rest Stop

With eight rest stops along the course, situated roughly 25 miles apart, the event had incredible support. Holland Dairy Farms offered their front yard, and chocolate milk, to all riders. Monroe let us take over a large city park. But the true stand out was Beloit. The gorgeous riverside park provided nice views while we rested our legs. The Janesville Velo Club was there to cheer on riders as we rode into and out of Beloit. There were folk dancers and gospel singers and even a cheerleading squad!
 
 

 
 

The Trek Travel Ladies

We have a great team here at Trek Travel. Evening rides and five o’clock happy hours provide ample time to enjoy one another’s company outside the office walls. But the bonding that occurs during 12-hours on the bike is unique. On Saturday, all four of us woke up with one common goal for the day. Literally and figuratively we pulled each other through. We didn’t converse the whole way. But we always enjoyed the company. We experienced the same views, suffered up the same hills, and reveled in the same glory.
 
 

 
 

The Finish Party

It’s no secret that getting off the bike after 12 hours in the saddle feels good. And the collective sense of accomplishment as we entered Kenosha was overwhelming. But as Robbie Ventura so accurately stated, “The highlight for me were the people. The relaxed and supportive atmosphere was special and it kept me smiling through a long, wet, hard day in beautiful Wisconsin!” In true Wisconsin fashion, we celebrated the finish by filling up our frosty “Founder’s” mugs and raising a glass to the adventure we shared. A simple engraving on the bottom of our mugs seems to encapsulate it perfectly…Earned It.
 
 

 
 
According to Dave Schlabowske, Deputy Director of the Wisconsin Bike Federation, “We started the Ride Across Wisconsin to showcase the amazing riding we have here. We hope RAW will become an annual tradition for hundreds of home state cyclists and a bucket list ride for people from across the country who want to see why we think Wisconsin is America’s Best Ride.”

Speaking for all of us, thank you to the Wisconsin Bike Federation for putting on a great event. It was truly the ride of a lifetime.
 
 

 
 

“Before Kent and I left on our Trek Travel Tour de France bike tour, I had coworkers ask me if I was traveling for fun or if I was riding my bike. For us, it is one and the same. Riding my bike on the same roads that the pros would be riding was to be the vacation of a lifetime.

Our trip was a total of six days, five of which were spent riding through the breathtaking (literally and figuratively) French Alps. During those five days, most of us would climb a total of 30,000 feet over 184 miles. It was fantastic to know what the racers were experiencing when I watched them climb the 22 km up the Col du Glandon! I knew firsthand the difficulty of the last 2.5 km, which averages around 11% grade, of the Col de la Morte. Trek Travel set up a viewing of Stage 19 with an open bar and buffet, and I watched as the peloton rolled down the Col de la Croix de Fer and knew, from my own ride down that same road, how spectacular the views were.

On day number five, our group rode up Alpe d’Huez two hours prior to the actual peloton. The 21 switchbacks were jam-packed with Tour lovers from all over the globe. Each switchback seemed to have been taken over by a different country, the biggest and craziest of them all being switchback #7 where we were greeted by a sea of orange as, I believe, all of Holland had camped out and were eagerly awaiting the riders. My favorite part of that ride to the top of Alpe d’Huez is when our guide Jonathan’s playlist turned to “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. It seemed to transcend language barriers, as everyone within earshot took up the chorus: “Ohh you’re halfway there. Ohhh living on a prayer!” Together, our group rolled across the actual finish line, and the people along the barriers cheered as if we were truly part of the Tour. I had a grin on my face that reached from ear to ear.

That night we got to meet one of the iconic figures of the cycling world. The man who coined the well-known (and while I was climbing, often repeated) phrase, “Shut up legs”: Jens Voigt. On TV he comes across as direct with a dry sense of humor, and that is exactly how he is in person. Jens spent an hour with the group, answering questions, taking pictures, and signing autographs. There were three teams staying at our hotel, and I had already snagged a picture with Andrew Talansky and Ryder Hesjedal and photo bombed Tony Gallopin. Some of the group had noticed André Greipel, aka The Gorilla, sitting in the bar. I convinced Jens to help me get a picture with him, seeing as how they are both German. Afterwards, Jens stayed behind to chat with Greipel and take selfies with him and his Lotto teammates while I immediately posted my prized picture to Facebook.

The sixth and last day of our adventure found us hustling off the mountain and on to Grenoble, where we boarded a train that would take us to Paris and to the final stage of the Tour de France. Trek had reserved the illustrious Automobile Club de France, which is located on the course about 500 meters from the finish. I felt a tad bit guilty as throngs of onlookers crowded behind barricades, while we sipped our drinks inches away from where the peloton was finishing the last stage. The most exciting moment came on the last lap as the sprinters flew past trying to get set up for that final push. After they passed where we were standing, we turned to where we could see the giant screen and got to watch as ‘The Gorilla’ won the most prestigious finale in cycling on the Champs-Élysées.

We finished the night and our Tour de France trip with a toast to our amazing guides and the experiences we would never have had without their help.”

Written by Marla Briley, Trek Travel guest.

In the years since her first assignment at the 2011 Tour of California, Emily Maye has made a name for herself photographing the pain and glory of professional cycling. By capturing the drama of a race and the faces behind the scenes she brings the sport to life, telling a timeless story that cannot be seen on television.
 

Tell us your story. What inspired you to pursue a career in photography?

I have been interested in storytelling as long as I can remember. I grew up in my mother’s ballet school in Santa Barbara and spent my whole childhood involved in ballet. At around 13, I fell in love with cinema and ultimately I went to USC Film School & Colombia University to study film and screenwriting. Photography was something I gravitated towards to tell visual stories and in time that became my primary focus. I love every part of the process and I am really happy with where I ended up.

What is the most rewarding part about your job?

I love photographing people and I find that the most rewarding. It’s a real challenge to capture something authentic in people and bring that out in a photograph. I gravitate towards the quieter moments and it’s so satisfying when you can capture something that may not have been obvious at first glance. I also like that in my job photographing the Trek Factory Racing Team, I get to react to a lot of different environments and race situations.
 
 

 
 

 
 
What is the most challenging aspect of photographing world-class athletes?

It is wonderful to photograph people that are at the top of their field. They perform with intensity and have the proper form and movement that makes my job much easier. The travel has been the most challenging part for me personally. It’s a lot of days away from home and in hotels. Everyone on the Trek Factory Racing Team is very comfortable with my presence so they make my job easier in that way. It’s been three seasons now with this team and no one is surprised to find me in a corner somewhere taking photos of them.

Tell us about your most unexpectedly adventurous day of work.

I think Tim Vanderjeugd alluded to it in his interview, but we went to Colombia for 48 hours as part of the new Behind The Stripes series that we did this year. We didn’t find out we were going to get to go until right before and all of the sudden we were in Colombia (I had never been to South America) and starting a project that we weren’t even sure how we would shape at that time. Everything I saw there was an adventure. I wish I could have stayed much longer!
 
 

 
 

 
 
What tips can you give our readers who are interested in improving their travel photography?

Look for nice light! There is no better way to show your friends and family the beautiful places you have been than through nice light. I also suggest trying to find things that resonate with you in the way that they reveal the tone and culture of place beyond just the famous monuments. Try to convey the sounds and smells, not just the sight.

Do you have a personal favorite photograph that you can share with our readers?

There’s a photo of Fabian from last year on the bus with his headphones on and it was the morning he ended up winning Flanders. I really love that photo because it feels like a calm stolen moment. You don’t really imagine that I am there taking the photo in that picture and to me that is when I have done my job most successfully. But it’s really hard to pick just one. It’s been an amazing adventure to spend that much time inside of the team these past three years.
 
 

 
 
VIEW MORE EMIlY MAYE PHOTOGRAPHY»

Fenway Park. Wimbledon. Augusta National. Churchill Downs. The time honored traditions held at these iconic venues are some of the most famous in sport. And not to be left off this list is cycling’s biggest stadium: Alpe d’Huez. It may not be the longest or the steepest climb to be featured in the Tour de France, but it demands a respect unlike any other.

For amateurs, the 21 switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez are a rite of passage. Times earned on the Alpe are cycling’s ultimate bragging right and merely cresting the summit is a badge of honor worn by few. For pros, the 13.8 kilometers hold more history, hype and hurt than any other stretch of pavement. Each hairpin bears the name of a former winner and every ascent brings the opportunity for a new champion to write his name in the history books.

Since its first appearance in the 1952 Tour de France, the winding road from Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez has earned a higher level of fame and notoriety than any other featured assent. Sure, it’s the challenge that etches this climb permanently into the minds of those who have slayed it. But what exactly distinguishes this widely acclaimed road and earns it a spot atop our list of the most famous stadiums in sport?

1. The History
In 1952 Fausto Coppi attacked 6 kilometers from the top, leaving behind his breakaway compatriots and taking the first ever stage win on Alpe d’Huez. A 1986 battle for the yellow jersey between teammates Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault was one for the ages. Le Tour’s 100th anniversary in 2013 was celebrated with a double ascent that tested the pain tolerance of even the strongest pros. And this year’s suspenseful showdown between Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome was the pinnacle of a fierce three-week rivalry. History has a way of repeating itself as year after year the 21 switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez host the most memorable breakaways, showdowns and attacks of our favorite Grand Tour.

2. The Dutch Corner
This sea of orange signifies the most boisterous party at le Tour. Be sure to grab a beer for the road as there are still seven switchbacks left to conquer.

3. The Views
Yes, the exposure of these 21 switchbacks means you may bake in the sun on a blue sky day. But the views will distract you from the pain.

4. The Road Paint
After enduring the relentless 8.1% average gradient turn after turn, this marker is a beckon of hope providing a light at the end of the sufferfest.

5. The Finish Line
The Tour is won on the Alpe. Although you may not beat the fastest time set by Marco Pantani in 1997 (37 minutes and 35 seconds), the finish line on Alpe d’Huez provides a welcome relief and unrivaled sense of accomplishment. It’s a moment for pros and amateurs alike to zip up the jersey, raise their arms and win with style.