15/05/2026
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 🥹