Mud

Of all the sports, I think cyclo-cross is one of the most photogenic. It is intensive and heavy, so the effort and pain can be read on the riders' faces. Competitions are held outdoors in nature, allowing for beautiful pictures of riders in a natural landscape. And cyclo-crossing involves a lot of mud....

Compared to professional competitions, amateur competitions as a photographer give you many more options to walk around everywhere and choose your own position. Of course, you have to make sure that you do not hinder riders. In South Holland there is the GP Cycling regional competition where every Saturday one of the South Holland cycling clubs organizes a competition. The photos in this series were taken during two of those competitions. The first was a cyclocross on November 11, 2023 organized by HSK Trias on a course around the Uithof sports center in The Hague. The second was a cyclocross in the De Gorzen nature reserve in Ridderkerk on November 25, 2023.