Another cross race season is underway again, but it’s still worth looking back at the 2021/2022 season with the annual Cyclocross Album of race photographer Balint Hamvas. After more than a decade of shooting pro cyclocross through the mud, sand & snow, Hamvas made the call earlier this year to step away from CX. So this is his last coffee table book wrap-up, highlighting both the best of his last season and a look back at some of the most memorable moments of the past 12 years…
2021/22 Cyclocross Album, Balint Hamvas
Since 2008 Balint Hamvas has been deep inside cyclocross, photographing pretty much every important race on the calendar. In that time he says he’s shot Koksijde 15 times, and most key venues at least 12x. “I’ve ran out of ideas. It feels like I’m just repeating myself and I’m not bringing anything new and fresh to the table. I still love shooting cross but I just can’t keep on doing this with the same intensity.”
So the professional photographer has stepped back from CX this year and is focusing more on road racing where there is more unfamiliar ground for him to cover, and a more infinite opportunity to discover new perspectives on the action.
If you want to read more about Hamvas’ change of direction, you can read about his ‘end of the road‘ in his own words on his CyclePhotos blog. Or you can listen to him & Maghalie Rochette chat about it on her Fever Talk podcast.
Pre-order the last 2021/2022 CX book
The final Balint Hamvas cyclocross book focuses on the 2021/2022 cyclocross season. But it’s also a bit of a retrospective on the 12 race seasons prior, too. In the end, it is 290 pages of photos and stories taking you inside cyclocross deeper than if you were standing ankle-deep in the muddy pits.
The final tome is once again a hardcover, in a medium 27 x 23cm format that you can cozy up with somewhere warm this winter while the riders are out wet & cold at the races, or keep on your coffee table to remind your friends to ride through the winter. The 2021/2022 Cyclocross Album is available now to pre-order for £40 and will ship out in a few weeks in early November. I’ve ordered mine and am anxiously awaiting its arrival!
