Dutch photographers Jeroen Halverstad and Nina Geurds of Plan78 Fotographie came up with the idea for an interesting project recently. They decided to take photographs of the BMC team before and after the recent stage in the Tour de France over the cobbled sectors in Northern France. They describe how the idea came about below:
Modern cycling has experienced some difficult times the past decade and even before. I have become a supporter of professional cycling for over more than 10 years now. And despite all the negative side effects its popularity has grown enormously. There is no discipline in sport which does so much about keeping it safe for everybody with all rules and regulations put in place. Personally I have always seen the beauty of this great discipline of athletes keep pushing their limits and always giving their best. I have visited multiple cycling race days and the tension and excitement you feel with the spectators and the cyclists is something I like to absorb.
One thing I noticed while visiting the race days. Pro Cyclists are absolute heroes. The way they can deal with pain is out of the ordinary. The BMC guys working for each other regardless of their own chances is just awesome. Not just the riders, but the whole team, mechanics, soigneurs just everybody. The best way to follow a race is on television, but to see the pain and team work you need to be there. As a photographer I wanted to capture this pain and suffering in a series of photographs at the Tour de France of 2015.
Last year I asked Daniel Oss if it was ok to have his portrait taken by us and he introduced me to Georges Luechinger and he arranged I could take his portrait.
When I came up with the idea of this series of before and after portraits I contacted Georges to see what the possibilities are. After all it is the Tour de France so stakes were extremely high. After discussing it a little he made it possible. And the rest is history and you hopefully can enjoy this series as much as we do.
I have witnessed the incredible logistical operation this race is and watched to see Georges do his work for the BMC Racing Team. And I was really impressed by how he ran things for the team. So a special thanks to him and my girlfriend Nina Geurds who was with me to make the shoot run smoothly!
The first portrait was taken one day before the start of the Tour de France, the second one was taken right after finishing the much feared cobble stone stage in Cambrai. So no staging for the second shot which shows the impact of it all.
You can see the full gallery of photos here:
http://www.plan78.com/portfolio/bmc-racing-team-no-pain-no-gain/
