We all have an appreciation for beautiful photography and Jered and Ashley Gruber are two of the best and most unique in the cycling business. We all see the finished product with perhaps an explanation of what it meant in the context of the race, but no photo will tell the true story behind getting that photo. As it turns out, often the best stories are often not from the best race shots. In this feature Jered and Ashley have given us an insight to what went on behind some of their favourite photos from this year’s Classics.
- I know the Strade Bianche is nowhere near Belgium and its famed cobbles, but I feel like it deserves a place amongst the greats. Next to this weekend’s Tro Bro Leon and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Strade Bianche is my favorite race of the year. It’s that good. The route is perfect, there’s no crazy stress around the race, the atmosphere is great, and after a day in the gorgeous hills of Toscana, the race concludes with what might be the best finish in all of cycling - the Piazza del Campo in Siena.
- Over the dusty white roads of the Strade Bianche
- Michal Kwiatkowski dropping Peter Sagan on the final climb before the finish of Strade Bianche
- The worst weather we saw this year for the cobbled classics was at the start line in Roeselare in the moments before Dwars door Vlaanderen. It was cold and wet, and a repeat of the horrific day that was Milano-Sanremo seemed imminent. The riders looked none too pleased and certainly concerned. The weather turned for the better moments after the start, and so it has been ever since - warm and sunny - an amazing contrast to last year’s frigid spring.
- Every year, there’s at least one casualty of spring that makes you think…ah…but what if… This year, two names come to mind: Stijn Devolder and Ian Stannard. Devolder was flying at Gent-Wevelgem - all looked perfect for the biggest week of the year. Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for him at the Ronde, and the Ronde wrongs ensured there would be no chance for him at Roubaix either. Still, take a moment to wonder… As a teammate of Fabian Cancellara’s, his job was of course to tend to the boss, but in that role, Devolder has found a huge amount of success in his career - notably those back to back Ronde wins while riding for Boonen. Can you imagine if he had won a third this year? He would have tied for the most ever wins at the Ronde - never once going in as a favorite, always as a super gregario. It boggles my mind. Maybe it’s just me though…
- We spend close to two months per year in Oudenaarde, which for us, is a long time. Our official address on our visa is Oudenaarde; we have a great network of friends here, and we’ve been coming here for almost five years now, so as much as it can be, Oudenaarde feels like home. Most of all, I ride my bike here a lot. The Spring Classics lend themselves to a normal-ish lifestyle, quite unlike the Grand Tours, so we can carry a full workload and still enjoy some happy evenings on the bike, dinners with friends, sleeping in the same bed… On my bike, I’m particularly fond of the area around Schorisse and Maarkedal - just a few kilometers outside of Oudenaarde. I often ride the road where I took this shot, and I always thought - man, that would make a super cool shot. I’m happy I got to take it.
- Ashley spent her Dwars door Vlaanderen chasing the race flat out with the best race chaser we’ve ever seen - Yoeri. Yoeri is amazing and deserves a whole story unto himself. Let it suffice to say for now that for a race like Dwars door Vlaanderen, he routinely sees it 18-22 times. On this day, they caught the last climb, and just managed to make it to the finish - but not all the way there. Ashley got herself within sight of the line as Terpstra crossed the line…making for a fantastic shot.
- This is going to sound odd, but up until this year’s E3, the only feed zone I had ever shot was at the 2011 Amstel Gold Race. I don’t know why, but that’s just the way it has worked out. I’m happy we stopped at this feed zone though - because this shot of Steele von Hoff grabbing his musette is one of my favorites.
- Sometimes, well, more than sometimes, pictures take on a life of their own well after the fact. When I took this shot, I had no idea that Sep Vanmarcke’s brother and girlfriend were screaming encouragement just off to my left at the Belgian hope rounding the corner to the right. I certainly couldn’t hear them, and I had only just run up about one second before that anyhow. It was crazy - but I’m happy I caught it.
- Strung out and flying - I wish I could accurately describe the chatter of wheels as riders desperately rounded that turn trying to hold the wheel in front of them. Every rider at the tail end of the group used ever millimeter of road, hit the cobbled gutter an inch or so from the curb, and just managed to keep every last bit of speed in hopes of hanging on a little while longer. It was desperate. Part of me loves seeing the sight of a race strung out single file from end to end, but the other part winces in pain.
- I’m a big fan of finish line shots that are just a little bit different - especially ones that are a bit removed from the front line of photographers. Kristof Ramon has done this to great success in the past, and I admit thinking on at least a dozen occasions - ooooh, I love that. One of the cool things about the fact that there are two of us is that we can separate at a finish. In this case, I went to the pack of photographers, while Ashley waited behind. Her finish shot was a thousand times better than mine.
- I don’t know if too many people have noticed, but Androni’s Marco Bandiera has ridden this year’s Classics with two Belgian flag colored armbands with the late Kristof Goddaert’s name on them. Bandiera and Goddaert were teammates on IAM last year. Kristof has a special place in Ashley’s heart - back when we first started shooting races in Europe, we were doing it on our normal bikes - camera in a backpack, fully kitted, sprinting around the Vlaamse Ardennen, trying to catch as many spots as possible. Ashley had fallen behind on her schedule of locations for the day though and wasn’t going to make it to her final spot, the Oude Kwaremont. Just as she was resigning herself to the disappointment of missing the final spot, an AG2R rider pulled up alongside her, smiled, and gestured for her to get on his wheel. It was Kristof. He had just pulled out of the race and was going to the Kwaremont to watch the finale. It was a small thing, but they became friends, and despite that being the only time they ever met, it was one of those moments that lived on. We were both heart-broken to hear the news of Kristof’s death earlier this year, but remembering and mourning are lonely things - you feel like you’re the only one with that pain in your heart, that memory. So in some way, it was comforting to see Kristof’s name on Marco’s arms the last few weeks. It made us both smile a little bit to know that he was still riding this year’s Classics - and suffering through everything that goes with them, crashes and all.
- I love the Koppenberg. I just do, plain and simple. Along with the Muur, I don’t think there’s anything better in the cobbled universe. Don’t think Johan Vansummeren was suffering too badly during the Garmin recon of the Ronde though - a few seconds later, he was even with me, looked over, and flashed a huge smile.
- Later that same day, Ashley went to Gent to shoot the team getting their special Cobbled Classics edition New Balance shoes. Johan was especially excited. It’s comforting to see Johan smiling in this shot, because there have been precious few smiles since that day. His horrific crash during the early stages of the Ronde has been well documented, but he has been in a very quiet place in the days that followed. For the Roubaix recon, he spent the day solo, a few minutes in front of his teammates - no motorbikes, no cameras, just a follow car behind him, as he chased his demons across the French countryside.
- Did I mention that I love the Koppenberg? We had the great pleasure to hang out with Brett and Ashley of Handlebar Mustache a few times over the last two weeks. The night before the Ronde, they dropped by, and we took them around to show them some of the cobbles in the last of the day’s light. As we pulled up to the Koppenberg, a street sweeper roared by, which means one thing: dust. I had my camera with me, so before the car was even fully stopped, I was out and sprinting down the upper cobbles of the Koppenberg, trying to get down as far as possible, before the dust settled again. It was absolute luck that we arrived in that moment, but I’m so happy we did - it was like nothing else I’ve ever seen on the cobbles - on my favorite climb of them all. It was beautiful, and it was even better in person. It was one of those moments that I hope stays with me for a long time. I was so happy - laughing the whole time - in amazed disbelief at the scene in front of me.
- I spent the day of the Ronde on the back of a motorcycle with a good riding friend of mine from Gent, Michael Ossieur. Michael was just crazy enough to offer to drive me for the Ronde, and more than capable enough to get me where I needed to be. It was a lot of fun, and instead of my normal practice of roaring around the hills on a tiny scooter, trying to get the speedometer over 50km/h, I had the chance to look around in relative piece and shoot a little from the bike between race stops. I love this shot and the next one. I don’t know if anyone else does, but I do. So they’re in my best of list.
- See previous caption.
- I’ve never seen a muddy Paris-Roubaix. I started riding at the very end of 2001, and I didn’t even know Roubaix was a place until the end of 2002. That means, I’ve never seen a wet Roubaix. Sure, there have been some wettish, muddy stretches, but Roubaix has been essentially dry since Johan Museeuw’s final win in 2002. Crazy. I don’t mind the dust. This one is from my day chasing IAM around the cobbles during their recon.
- Another from the IAM recon day - there was a small group of kids all together on a sector late in the day. They were lined up with brightly colored signs asking for bidons - if the signs weren’t good enough, their pleas for bidons did the trick. Riders emptied their cages as fast as they rolled by, and when the riders passed, the team cars handed some over as well. I loved it, the kids loved it, the riders loved it. It wasn’t the normal whining or demanding that you see so often - it was fun and positive, and every rider that passed through that section left with a smile on his face. I think everyone on motorbikes and in cars did as well.
- You can’t go to battle with scuffed shoes. It’s a funny thought, but in some weird way, it makes perfect sense. Matteo Pelucchi was called in as a late replacement for a sick, Sylvain Chavanel, and he took to his chance with a smile. I love it that Matteo fixed that nasty scuff on the toe of his shoe before starting Roubaix. I like it even more that he had an ‘I heart Roubaix’ sticker on his shoe.
- At one point early on during our Roubaix chase, I got a text from Ashley - you won’t believe where I’m standing. She wasn’t exaggerating. It was this beautiful field of rape flowers, which went off into the distance to the left as far as you can see…and then the race arrived, led by Trek Factory, spewing dust every which way - a storm of white next to a sea of yellow.
- I don’t know why, but I like this picture. I don’t have any story to tell, except that this one jumps out at me every time I see it.
- The dust. The dust that follows the caravan and riders around Paris-Roubaix is indescribable. It falls over you and turns a clear day to the murkiest fog you can dream up. Cars emerge out of the fog, rattling down the cobbles, motorbikes appear out of nowhere, and then the riders come – rattling at high speed over ancient stones, never fully clear, always blanketed in the dust of those that passed before them.
- Niki Terpstra. What else is there to say?