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 opportunities for him to compete in California’s mountain bike league. Soon, he was traveling 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 became the first tribally recognized Native North American to race the Tour de France. The next year, he 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. In 2023, he 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.
He raced his fifth Tour de France in 2024 and played a big role in helping teammate Richard Carapaz win the King of the Mountains jersey. He capped off the year with wins at Gran Piemonte and Japan Cup.
Neilson got his 2025 season rolling in a big way at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he took the victory in a three-versus-one sprint.
Neilson lives in Nice, France with his wife and young daughter during the racing season. He enjoys exploring their adopted city and relaxing on the beach after hard rides through the Alps.
James Shaw
James Shaw 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.
With three grand tours now in his legs, the 28-year-old British climber is gunning for a great 2025. He’ll take every chance he can get to show what he can do on the sport’s biggest stage. James’s journey to the top hasn’t been easy. After his first few years as a pro, he couldn’t find a contract and had to go back to the sport’s second division. He considered quitting to become a train conductor, but with the support of his family and friends, James stuck with it and earned another shot in the big leagues after a number of strong stage race performances. Since joining our team in 2022, he has evolved into a loyal super domestique, who can get over the hardest climbs to help his teammates. Always willing to pull, he hasn’t pushed his own ambitions aside.
James earned his best results so far out of breaks at the 2023 Tour de France, where he finished fifth and seventh on tough mountain stages. When he gets his chance, he goes all in.
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. He also enjoys riding motorbikes and going off-roading in the old 4x4 that he refurbished.
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 most respected climbers in the peloton. His racing victories include the Colombian road national championship, Il Lombardia, the Giro dell’Emilia, three Giro d’Italia stages, two Vuelta a España stages, and 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 has been a pro for over a decade. 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.