The Peloton: L'ARRIVÉE

_{© Timm Kölln}

The Peloton, Timm Kölln’s masterful new book capturing portraits of an entire generation of professional cyclists, launched in Berlin at Villa Pasculli last week.

Roger Hammond, Charly Wegelius and Mathew Hayman gave us their thoughts on the images.

It was the year where I felt fantastic [2009], but made a cock-up. We were on a sector of cobbles and I was thinking the feed zone was coming up, so I should stay out of trouble, but I just drifted back, taking it easy. You either need to be at the front or at the back in the feed zone: in the middle is carnage. So rather than take a risk riding on the grass, I dropped right to the back. We turned left into a crosswind and Saxo Bank put the hammer down and blew the race to pieces. I chased back on at the beginning of the next cobbled sector, but it was still a group of around 40 guys, and I was last across with George Hincapie. As we hit the cobbles, Boonen attacked, so by the time I got to the front of the group, the group had gone. I spent the rest of the day chasing with George and getting nowhere…

Every year you go to Paris-Roubaix, there is always something new to learn. The race seems to be over in five minutes because you are concentrating so hard. There is no other race like it on the calendar. You can’t afford to relax once, and 2009 proved that. I was in the front all day long, then I relaxed, and it was race over in probably the most unlikely point you could imagine.

- Roger Hammond

_{© Timm Kölln}

My photo from after Roubaix is special to me, as is that race. I feel lucky to have had Timm photograph me. It feels like his photos make you want to search for clues as to what type of race the subject has just been through.

- Mathew Hayman

It the closest thing I have seen to capturing how fucking hard it is to be a bike rider. His work is every bit as strong as ours. And you have to admire that.

- Charly Wegelius

_{[Launch party photo]: L-R Rouleur editor Guy Andrews, writer Herbie Sykes, Juan Antonio Flecha, writer Nando Boers, Pedro Horrillo, Jens Voigt, Timm Kölln.}

Order your copy at www.rouleur.cc