Culture
Tour de France gallery: Week two
Look back at the best pictures the Grubers took during week two of the Tour
July 17, 2023
Jered and Ashley Gruber are cycling’s finest photographers.
For over a decade, their creative vision has defined and redefined how fans, commentators, and the racers themselves see our sport. Last year, the Grubers received a World Sports Photography Award. Their internationally acclaimed, published and prized work transcends genres. They are here with us at the Tour de France. Enjoy their photos from the second week.
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Neilson Powless
When Neilson Powless started racing X-Terra triathlons with his sister back home in Northern California, he just wanted to spend time outside and rip around the trails near his house. His first love was mountain-biking. It was his best discipline in those off-road triathlons, and when he got to high-school, there were all sorts of chances for him to compete in California’s mountain-bike league. Soon, he was travelling with the US national team, racing junior world cups and championships against the world’s most talented mountain-bikers. Race in and race out, Neilson proved he was one of them.
Then he decided he wanted to have a go on the road.
Neilson has progressed steadily since he turned pro in 2018, thanks to his hard-work and diligent approach to training. In 2020, Neilson Powless became the first tribally recognized Native North American to race the Tour de France. The next year, our rising American star won Spain’s greatest one-day race, the Clásica San Sebastián, and finished fifth at the world championships in Belgium. Neilson was stellar in 2022. After a strong campaign in the Ardennes, he finished fourth on GC at the Tour de Suisse and lit up the Tour de France. He finished the year off with a victory at the Japan Cup.
The 2023 season was his best yet. Neilson won his first race of the year: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille. He then won the overall at Étoile de Bèsseges and stormed the Flemish classics, finishing third at Dwars door Vlaanderen and fifth at De Ronde in his debut campaign on the cobbles. At the Tour, he captured hearts with a stellar run in the King of the Mountains jersey.
Neilson lives in Nice, France with his wife and baby girl during the racing season. He enjoys exploring their new city and relaxing on the beach after hard rides through the Alps.
If he can find time in his schedule, Neilson would like to get back to his roots, and do some off-road alternative racing in 2024.
Rigoberto Urán
There is now a Colombian TV show about Rigoberto Urán’s life. It is about more than Olympic medals and grand tour podiums, fashion shoots, and appearances in the celebrity pages of newspapers.
Rigoberto’s dad was killed by a paramilitary group three months after he introduced Rigo to cycling. Rigo was 14. All of a sudden, he had to work to support his mom and his sister. He took over his dad’s job, selling lottery tickets to support his family, while going to school and trying to race. He still won a lot.
At 16, it was too much. Rigo told his cycling team that he would either have to turn pro or quit and go back to selling lottery tickets. Technically, he was too young to become a professional. To get around that fact, the team offered his mother the contract. Three years later, Rigo traveled to Europe for the first time to race for a small Italian team.
He has never looked back. An Olympic silver medal and podium finishes at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France are highlights from his illustrious career. Rigo is still a contender. In 2022, he won stage 17 of the Vuelta, completing his trifecta of stage wins in each of the grand tours, and was a force in the autumn classics.
Rigo continues to inspire his teammates and a whole generation of cyclists with his laid-back, fun-loving approach to the sport.
James Shaw
James loves the places that his bike has taken him, the people he has met because of cycling, and the life lessons he’s learned through the sport. But what does he love most about cycling? Racing.
While James has achieved strong results as a GC rider, especially in 2021 at the Tour of Slovenia and the Tour of Norway, his favorite races are the Ardennes Classics. He is also a keen student of cycling history and finds pride and motivation in thinking about the riders who have come before him. James finished his first grand tour at the 2022 Vuelta and is excited for more.
Through the year, he lives in England’s Peak District. When he is home, James resets by taking his dogs for long walks on the moors and riding with old clubmates. His racing and training schedule is very busy, but whenever he has time, James hitches a trailer to his bike and goes bike packing.
Esteban Chaves
Esteban came to cycling through duathlon as a young teenager. His dad registered him for the race and lent him a bike. For Esteban, it was love at first ride. He bought a bike shortly thereafter and hasn’t looked back. Today, the Colombian is one of the strongest riders in the peloton. His racing victories include Il Lombardia, the Giro dell’Emilia, three Giro d’Italia stages, two Vuelta a España stages, and most recently a stage at the 2021 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
While his results are impressive, Esteban has overcome hardships in his career. As a 22-year-old, he had a crash that nearly ended his career before he even signed his first WorldTour contract. Then in 2018, he was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus and chronic sinusitis. Throughout it all, Esteban maintained his warrior spirit and his signature smile.
Riding is about more than racing and achieving results for the Colombian, who is now in his second season with our team. In 2016, he began FUN Chaves, an organization that uses bikes as tools to help children in Colombia realize their dreams. For him, his career as a professional cyclist is proof that dreams do come true and he hopes to inspire others to follow their passions.
Andrey Amador
Andrey Amador brings experience and climbing prowess to our team. We rely on the strong Costa Rican at key moments of the hardest races and learn all that we can from him. Andrey draws on 14 years of WorldTour experience. He has won a stage of the Giro and worn that race’s leader’s jersey, but above all made his name as a skilled and dedicated teammate, who is always ready to get the hard work done–with a smile.
Andrey has finished 18 grand tours so far during his career and ridden for some of cycling’s great champions, including his close friend and fishing buddy Richard Carapaz.
Andrey and Richie have been teammates ever since they were amateurs. No matter how hard the races get, they can make each other laugh. Andrey is Richie’s right-hand man. He’ll keep him out of the wind and get him water bottles and ride on the front whenever it could turn the race to Richie’s advantage.