After five amazing weeks, entries to the 2017 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards closed today. We’ve been left awestruck by the response – over 1,200 incredible images were submitted, from photographers in 33 countries, and over $10,000 raised for some very worthy causes.
It’s now over to our panel of judges – cycling photography legends Graham Watson, Marcus Enno (aka Beardy McBeard), and Jim Fryer & Iri Greco of BrakeThrough Media – who’ll have the difficult task of narrowing those entries down to a shortlist of 10 images for each category. Keep an eye open for their personal shortlists, which we’ll publish through next week, in the lead up to the grand announcement of the competition winners in a week’s time.
Our sincere thanks go to our generous sponsors – Trek Travel, Specialized, Olympus, Shimano, Silca and Stages – whose prizes will soon be distributed to some very talented recipients.
All entry fees went to support Tour de Cure, Australian Cancer Research Foundation and Young Cyclist Development. Although we’ve now closed entries to the competition, if you’ve enjoyed the weekly posts and would like to make a tax-deductible donation to cancer research as part of the awards, you are warmly encouraged to do so.
With a spike in entries in the last week, our ‘best of’ today is a long one – but somehow we don’t think you’ll mind. Onto the pictures!
Professional category
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- Wouter Roosenboom – Worldchampion Time Trial 2016 Tony Martin exhausted after his time trial in Marseille. Stage 20 in the Tour de France 2017
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- Tim Bardsley-Smith – Jaw, meet Floor… it was hard not to get blown away every single day in Tibet.
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- Michal Cerveny – Full Gas. An triathlete during World Triathlon Series race on Yas Marina Formula 1 Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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- Kristof Ramon – The surreal sight of Jan Bakelants’ bike dangling 3 to 4 meters up in a tree after he was propelled over a barrier into a ravine while descending from the Muro di Sormano at Il Lombardia 2017. sidenote: I never released the actual crash-pics (I also shot) as I found this image way more powerful (and respectful; without having to show the gore of this horrific crash as Bakelants condition was extremely serious at the time)
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- Kristof Ramon – Elle Anderson sends her bike flying in a spectacular way in the infamous Zonhoven ‘Kuil’ (or ‘Pit’) during the 2017 cyclocross event there. Simply imagine the 5000+ spectators going ‘ooohhh’ at the very same time in this (naturally formed) arena of cyclocross… quite a spectacle!
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- Joris Knapen – Dusty Mitch!
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- Gareth – 3 fans and a track stand
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- Francesco Rachello – Ash Duban racing the Red Hook Crit Barcelona no. 5 women’s race that she will eventually win
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- Daniel Ferreira – Winding Road January 2017, Estrada dos Romeiros, Pirapora do Bom Jesus – SP – BRAZIL
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- Daghan Perker – Racers climb through a cloud of dust at KMC Crossfest.
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- Christopher Lanaway – Peter Sagan demonstrated his exceptional talent taking the racing to the line with a photo finish alongside Alexander Kristof, having nervously awaited confirmation Sagan celebrates his 100th victory & third consecutive World Road Race Champion title.
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- Catherine Fegan-Kim – It’s always an exciting challenge for me to shoot epic gravel races, such as the Crusher in the Tushar, which cover such beautiful terrain. I started out the day with a plan to photograph riders in each of the scenic areas. I was able to capture these riders in this wooded section. Looking through my images after the race I was happy to see that this photo also caught the mood through this section.
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- Bryn Lennon – Into the unknown
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- Balint Hamvas – Mechanics and party-goers exchange kind glances on the night of the last cyclocross race of the season in Diegem.
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- Atsushi Tanno – Three ninjas.
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- Alex Whitehead – Alexis Gougeard of France in action on Mount Floyen during the Elite Men’s Individual Time Trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Bergen, Norway.
Enthusiast category
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- Yee Feng – Love + Racing amongst the cherry blossoms at the Thursday Night World Championships at Seward Park
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- David Le – Tobin Ortenblad races to a win at CXLA.
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- Sarah Meyssonnier – L’Etape Colombia 2017
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- Gavin Gould – Sophie deBoer of the Netherlands collapses on the ground shortly after the finish line at the first UCI Telenet World Cup Cyclocross event of the season. A very hot day, above 90F/32C. JingleCross World Cup, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. September 17th, 2017
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- Laura Drosse – There are roads beyond Tarmac
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- Ian Richards – Cool Down
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- Mark Ross – Dulwich Hill Christmas Carnival – Perfecting the Slingshot. Perfecting the Pain face.
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- Jason Spencer – Peter Sagan in the crowd at Paris-Roubaix
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- Petros Gkotsis – Demarrage mayhem in the wet- Stage 2 Tour of Rhodes:Greece
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- Adam Koble – Shafer Road in Canyonlands National Park is the most epic road I’ve ever ridden. On a road trip this past March, my teammate and I couldn’t help ourselves when we saw this road from a nearby overlook. I still consider it a small miracle that neither of us flatted while climbing or descending this road on our race bikes. This panorama was made by stitching seven separate images together in Photoshop.
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- Brice Hansen – PBR Relief – Brady Kappius (Team Clif Bar) begins his circus act with a PBR in his teeth at the US Open of Cyclocross in Boulder, CO.
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- Jennifer Doohan – TransAtlantic Way Race. Ireland. NIKON D300 09:06:2017 – 17-23 LENS 24.0-70.0 mm f:2.8 FOCAL LENGTH 29MM 1:200 sec; f:10; ISO 400 Manual; Spot metering
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- Andrew Laity – The Empty Quarter Taking the road through the sand dunes in the most remote part of the UAE
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- Adrian Hoe – Long road ahead
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- Angelica Dixon – Racing the clock
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- Jay Golian – Riding in Scotland serves up some big scenery, and it’s hard not to stop and be a tourist sometimes
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- Jiri Parizek – This is my brother going up to Grossglockner glacier from side of Heiligenblut village in Austrian alps. We were pretty lucky with weather! Blue bird all day long!
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- Alex Duffill – Stephen Hyde descending during round two of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Waterloo, Wisconsin.
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- Toshiki Sato – Teamwork beyond the final lap.
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- Quique Bueno – Speed, colours, light, the equilibrium at the legendary Vigorelli velodrome.
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- Romain Moracchini-Villard – Sunset ride at the magic turn
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- Aaron Lau – Only this close I can get without getting myself, and others, killed to the #cornerlikecaseystoner actions with a 50mm fixed lens. Shot on a Minolta XG-1, MD Rokkor 50mm and Fujifilm Superia X-tra 400 roll #35mm #filmisnotdead
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- Jordan Benjamin-Sutton – Chris Froome is guided into Paris by his Team Sky teammates
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- Wim van der Veken – In Belgium they say ride the snot out of your nose which means give everything, go to the extreme, that is what Laurens Ten Dam always does. Photo taken during time trial Marseille-Marseille tour de france 2017.
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- Michael Rapattoni – I spend a considerable amount of time in crazy Jakarta, Indonesia. This was the first time I saw a road cyclist after spending 3 months in the city. It was captured from a cab on the way to the airport. Proving this beautiful sport is possible even in the most challenging of urban jungles such as Jakarta.
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- Lian van Leeuwen : Saltlake_Lian – Not much compares to the mayhem and speed of Red Hook Crit Milano. Fly-by during the men’s final 2017.
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- Simon Scholz – Rays of sunlight through the thick canopy on an early morning ride out of Girona.
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- David Gillam – That rare climb where you never want to reach the top.
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- Simon ‘Ebbe’ Hedman – The magic of a flat tire
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- Liam Parker – A few years ago, my best riding buddy Cam was hit by a car. His left knee was ruined, and it was a long road to recovery. After a few seasons of trying to get back to the same level he was before, Cam accepted that it wasn’t possible. No matter what, off the bike his left side was always sore. While we can’t hammer all the time like we used to, I’m thankful for the trips we can make. This spring, we did a 160km loop of roads, gravel, and dirt trail. It was one of the best rides I’ve ever had!
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- Deborah Malin – Dawn on the Tourmalet.
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- Oliver Ng – Approaching sunset on the Port Hills in Christchurch, NZ. This section of road is badly damaged from the earthquakes, and it closed to cars, so is somewhat of a sanctuary for cyclists and runners. As we were on our way up, the sea fog in the background starting blowing over, and we thought our shoot was ruined. This image was actually taken by my good friend Ben Karalus, a massive talent both behind the lens and on a bike.
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- Alain Rumpf – The Col du Sanetsch, the most beautiful Alpine climb you have never heard of
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- Sarah Elizabeth Mosquera – Evan Wedsworth discovers how big of a shadow he casts.
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- Brandon – Moment of Silence as Kristof Allegaert lays a wreath on the steps of Sydney Opera House for Mike Hall.
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- Glenn Davidson – Richie Porte charges towards the finish line as the winner of the 2017 Tour Down Under
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- Johan Haag – Bring a gravel bike and you’ll have a blast even in Dystopia.
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- Adriano – In search of up on the old Grimsel pass road in the Haslital. A place attracting both climbers with and without wheels.
Smartphone/Action Cam category
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- Arie Wetsteyn – It just happened
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- Ian Galistan – Tunnels of Galleria Rosazza, Italy
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- Sean de Luna – For me riding is about building community (especially in such a polarizing political climate). It’s great when people can find common ground. On Sundays we ride through Frederick, Maryland. Conversations tend to skew respectful, hopeful, and sometimes hushed as we spin through Antietam National Battlefield. Rolling through the hallowed grounds, the fog was lifting as the sun’s glow burned off mist. I hung back and shot this as my friends and their shadows carved patterns in the morning light.
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- AJ Moran – The newly sealed Elsmore road in the Southern Highlands gave us a new ride and a new climb. Approaching the climb early one Autumn morning we all noticed the approaching vista, simply stunning and too good an opportunity not to stop and shoot this amazing sunrise as the valley was shrouded in mist. Early morning rides have a knack of producing the most breathtaking scenery and one never regrets making the effort once you experience a scene like this.
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- Michael Wichuk – Flandrien litter. Tour of Flanders 2017
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- Darin Lien – The solitude and hard scrabble of Jack Rabbit Trail in Southern California.
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- Jonney Yeates – An Austral for the ages – The frustration is palpable as Nick Yallouris falls for a second time in the re-run of the Austral Wheelrace.
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- Jeff Provan – Mt Fuji Base Camp
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- Sean Fine – The larger my tires the faster I roll
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- Geovany Sosa – I kept shooting from this spot, loved the way the barrier tape danced around with the wind.
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- Anne Fedorowytsch – I spy Peter Sagan from the shadows of Paracombe Rd.
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- Spencer Brown – Cross in the Wasatch- Snow on the peaks, changing leaves, and that interminable run up at high altitude
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- Merijn Heijne – Sometimes you simply know in advance that your cycling plans are just plain stupid. At the same time, though, you also realise that they will give you great stories afterwards. This was one of those days. Freezing temperatures, rain, hail and the fierce Dutch headwind for most of our trip. On this small ferry and with still 75km to go we were pretty sure that we would never get warm again. However, it turned out to be one of our best days of cycling in 2017.
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- Leon Gower – Wet commute through London!
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- Matt Fee – When the wind isn’t smashing you and the lack of hills aren’t getting you down, The Netherlands can be a pretty special place to ride a bike.
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- Mark Higgins – Climbing out of the Barossa Valley on the last leg of the Mawson Trail before Adelaide
What’s caught your eye this week? Give the photographer a shout-out in the comments below. You can also check out our best of week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4 highlight posts from throughout the competition.