Records: UCI Leuven 2021

On 26 September 2021, the 100th edition of the UCI Road World Championships came to an end on the sloping Geldenaaksevest, after 268 kilometres raced from Antwerp through the hills of Flemish Brabant. It is the greatest annual event in professional cycling. It was the first time in almost twenty years that the World Championships returned to Belgium, where cycling is woven into the fabric of everyday life in a way that has no equivalent elsewhere in the world. Its final six circuits passed right in front of my house in Wilsele, where I lived for several years.

Cycling is a matter of pain, sweat, and resistance. It is the texture of life distilled into a few hours of pure suffering. It is an ethically charged moment of collective catharsis, focused on these extraordinary athletes pushing their bodies to the limit and beyond. It is also the humblest, most proletarian of competitive sports, far removed from the gilded worlds of football and tennis. For this reason, I believe that cycling has a singular ethical and social role that should be preserved, cared for, and defended against the economic pressures that seek to turn it into something else.

Six times, the same road was transformed into a river of helmets, carbon, and effort passing directly in front of my house. Six times, the same neighbours who had set out their chairs hours earlier rose to their feet. These photographs celebrate the sacrifice and elegance of the riders, and through them the beauty and dignity of a sport that must not be surrendered to the forces that would remake it in another image.