Behind The Lens: Tour of Alberta

Photos by Matt Clark

By InnerVoice

March 2^nd, 2018

behind the lens

Behind The Lens takes the concept of the inner voice to the next level. As an athlete struggles through a tough race or a hard workout, their mind is telling them to stop. What about a photographer, capturing the moment? What are they seeing and what is their inner voice telling them? Here, we explore the thoughts of those who take some of endurance sports’ most iconic images.

The Grime

In the four years I covered the Tour of Alberta this one day had to be the most dramatic. Snow fell overnight, temperatures dipped to the freezing mark and half of the 50km gravel sections that were to define the stage were cut from the course as they were deemed too dangerous for the athletes to ride. There were multiple days of rain and sleet leading up to the event. This one stretch of gravel was already showing signs of Fall colours and I found it quite the contrast to the dirt and grime of the roads and athletes that quickly passed.

The Despair

The 2015 Tour of Alberta showcased the beauty of the rockies with a mountain top finish at Marmot Basin Ski Resort. A 15km grind of a climb, it left riders depleted by the time they reached their team buses.

The storms

Probably my favourite image from the Tour of Alberta, this photo was captured as a heavy storm rolled across the Prairies. The peloton rolled out of Kananaskis that morning and for much of the day the storm chased them all the way from the Rockies into the Prairies. As you can see it didn’t stop the crowds coming out in force just outside of Calgary for the King of the Mountain point.

The Podium

The post, post shot. After the final presentation of the 2016 event, champagne drenched the stage. Not being a fan of the typical podium shot, I felt this gave a different angle on celebration.

the tour

It can sometimes be hard to find beauty in September in the Prairies. Along with my moto driver, I came upon this field of sunflowers that gave a Le Tour de France feel to the stage.

ThE Glory

Winning is a team game in this sport and being on the spot as Tanner Putt of UHC is greeted by his team following his win during the 2016 tour was one of my favourite memories of the Tour of Alberta

the focus

A focus of mine is to look for something different from starts and finishes, and this shot of Bailey McKnight worked out perfectly to show the calm before the storm.

The Decisions

Another shot of the 2016 event where the weather was the major factor. It was a consistent game of layering throughout this stage, and here Michael Matthews gloves-up for the final stretch into Spruce Grove.

the city

Edmonton’s River Valley was always a key landscape for the Tour of Alberta. I wanted to show both the beauty of the green space while capturing scale. I shot this from the High Level Bridge that crosses the North Saskatchewan River.

the start

I was looking for a different perspective of the prologue at the 2015 race. Rather than capture the regular front-on shot of the team lined up before the start, I wanted to give you the view from the perspective of the rider. The sun under his arm was an added bonus that really makes the image pop.