You want to see some award-winning photographs? You’ve come to the right place!
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the website you’ll have seen a bunch of weekly highlight posts over the past month, and the judges’ shortlists on the weekend – and now we have the pleasure of announcing the winners of the 2026 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards.
In their tenth running this year, the Mark Gunter Photo Awards are an annual event held in memory of Mark Gunter – a much-loved Australian cycling photographer, who died tragically early of oesophageal cancer (June 10, 1974 – November 29, 2015). His name lives on in this competition, with his wife – Leeanne Gatien – as the driving force behind the awards. Every year we say this, and every year we mean it with our whole hearts – thank you, Leeanne, for all your efforts. We appreciate you.
Mark at the 2011 Tour de France.
As always, this year’s awards were hotly contested, with hundreds of entrants in across the Professional, Amateur and (returning this year) Smartphone categories. For the second year running, a Fan’s Favourite category is also in the mix, allowing readers to vote for the picture they most admired (note: this will be announced imminently), and three randomly-selected Escape Collective member entrants also pick up a prize.
The important duty of choosing the winners of each category was up to our panel of judges, all of whom are esteemed photographers in their own right (both in cycling and beyond). Léon van Bon (last year’s Pro category winner), Michael Blann, Twila Federica, and Chris Burkard got together with Leeanne on a judging call, debated the merits of each shortlisted photo, and after much careful consideration, arrived at a consensus. This was no easy task, so to each of the judges – thank you for your time and care!
Our thanks also to all photographers who put themselves forward this year – there were some truly stunning photos across the board. Of course, the awards are not just about the recognition and prizes on offer: funds raised from entry fees – AU$10, or roughly US$6.50 / €6 / £5 per photo – will be donated to cancer research through Australian charity Tour de Cure (you can also donate directly to the cause, if you prefer).
And now: on to the photos!
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