Online Exclusive: World Cup Mountain Bike Photographers

"We don't exist. Anonymity is our name. Silence, our native tongue. We're 'them'. We're 'they'. We are the Men in Black." –Agent Zed from "Men in Black"

Another World Cup season in the can. Rachel Atherton takes the overall. A healthy Minnaar rises out of the ashes of Honda and claims another title. Absalon outright took his a few weeks ago after shaking off a rough start to the year, as did Rocky Mountain's Marie Helene Premont. And somewhere, somehow, there are photos of each of these events, as well as slices of the moments that led to the grand finale that was Schladming.

Do you ever wonder where all those race images come from? It boils down to a handful of seasoned professional photographers who document the World Cup from the first race to the last. We are "they." We are "them." Specifically, we are–quite literally—the Men in Black. Plus Victor Lucas. Until next year, when we revert to being the Men in Purple again. Confused? Let me shine a little light.

The UCI, or the Union Cycliste Internationale, runs the World Cup. The Mountain Bike Press Association (MBPA) is the UCI's officially sanctioned press corps. We are distinguished at events by our bitchin' Alpinestars black vests—a typical photographer's vest loaded with pockets for "really important" World Cup photography stuff. Things like whatever food we've managed to snatch from the media room between races, start lists, and flash memory cards for the ludicrously expensive bits of plastic, metal and glass that we proceed to beat the crap out of on a weekly basis (these are called "cameras"). But since the official color designation for us by the UCI is purple, we will become the "Men in Purple" next year, with equally smart-looking purple vests.

I'm not certain of how many MBPA members there actually are—in Europe it seems as if there are 6 million MBPA-clad photographers swarming the course. But of all them, only six of us hit the majority of the World Cup races each year: Rob Jones, Sven Martin, Gary Perkin, Fraser Britton and me. Plus Victor—he's not MBPA, but a World Cup without him is like an opera without Pavarotti. Collectively, we are responsible for 80-90 percent of the World Cup imagery that is published on professional websites and magazines.

That's us. But who, exactly, are we?

Fraser Britton <- Click here for Fraser's story and photos.

Gary Perkin <- Click here for Gary's story and photos.

Reader Comments 

Posted Mon Dec 1, 2008, 5:09 PM — By Dan

Colin with empty hands? What??!? It has to have at LEAST one of the following: 1) D1 2) Coffee 3) Mobile phone or 4) Tequila bottle. Amazing this creature has been captured in the wild, clearly OUT of his element. Or, perhaps, it's "Thumbs up, send down some beer, my hands are empty."

Posted Mon Dec 1, 2008, 5:32 PM — By fRed

Woah woah woah... you guys forgot the photo of Tom Moran wearing neon tights and a fishing hat riding behind tinker juarez on a y-frame with a camera bolted to his head.

Add Comment

Name (Required):

Email (Required, will not be shown to public):

Comment (Required, max chars: 1024):

You have characters left.

Type the characters you see in this picture