Back in June I travelled out to Switzerland with Cycle Sport magazine staff writer Andy McGrath to photograph Daniel Teklehaimanot at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle; the feature appears in the new October 2010 issue and I’m pleased to say that they’ve done a very fine job with image selection and layout with only one photo that isn’t mine sneaking in via a side-bar with Sky rider John-Lee Augustyn about the difficulties for Africans making it to the professional ranks. This was a great assignment to get and was quite different from the usual celebrity athlete interview feature (not that I don’t love those too…); currently relatively unknown, Teklehaimanot was born and raised in the African country of Eritrea (a country with a strong cycling scene as a result of it being colonised by Italy from 1890 to 1941 but also a bloody war-torn history and ranked as the worst country in the world for press freedom violations) and poised to become the first black-African cyclist to make it to the top-tier of professional cycling despite undergoing a heart operation just last year after tests indicated that he had tachycardia. Big thanks to Ed Pickering for assigning me and Andy McGrath for being such a good travel companion and doing such a great job with the words; you can read the article in full by picking up a copy of the new issue from any good newsagents.
Out-takes: I really wish I’d stepped back and taken a wider set-up photo of this first one (an alternate from the photo that ran as the double page spread opener); there were four of us all hunkered down in the wheat; as well as Daniel and me, Andy (writer) and Michel (Daniel’s coach) were holding onto a softbox for dear life as gale-force winds blew through the valley.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great kid, had the pleasure of racing with him this weekend. Hard worker and smart. He’s got a great future ahead of him.
It the pleasure to meet this guy in UCI center, he is good friend, he has to many ambitions , good in training and better in race. Smart rider and good teammate.
We Eritrean are proud of u Dani. Keep going for your name and your beautiful country. Wish all the best .
Great Job well done and many many of the same wish to finish First again and again for many years to come Ajoka Mokci.
Actually, the kid is nothing but a true role model to all young kids everywhere. Like many other Eritrean athletes, he learned early on to work hard and be the best he could be. Did you see him and his teammates how they perform in the tour of Rwanda? It is simply amazing. Thanks Simon Keitch for letting us see what you saw in this kid.