Giro for the ages

This year’s Giro d’Italia lived up to its reputation as the most beautiful and thrilling of the Grand Tours. Photographer Zac Williams talks Cyclist through his favourite shots of the three-week race

- Words Laurence Kilpatrick

Australian photographer Zac Williams has been covering cycling's Grand Tours for years, and he's of the opinion that there's something for us all to savour when the superhuman riders - the Pogačars and Vingegaards - aren't around.

'It's rare that races come down to the last few days. Last year Tadej Pogačar won the Giro by an absolute mile, and then did the same at the Tour,' he says. 'Some of my photographer colleagues aren't big cycling fans, but I'm just as engaged as the people lining the roads.'

With his fan hat on, Williams wants to see close, competitive, unpredictable racing, but from a professional point of view, does a lack of predictability just make his job harder?

'Unpredictability makes for a more engaging experience across the board, but if you're looking for the key ingredients for great photos, it isn't as important as sheer visual spectacle,' he says.

This year's Giro wasn't just missing Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard but also shed favourites Primož Roglič and Juan Ayuso well before the business end of the race. With everything up in the air, a photographer's job can suddenly become a lot more difficult.

'You have to be on the ball much more when it's an even contest,' he says. 'I'm constantly online trying to find out what's going on mid-race, and I've got my mum watching back in Perth and she'll be texting me updates. All I'm trying to do is tell the story of the race in the best way I can.'

The known unknowns

While it's useful to know what's happening during a stage in terms of time gaps between groups on the road, photographers will also benefit from having a keen understanding of what the riders are capable of on any given day.