Roadie psyches opposition with pannier bag

You’ve just got to love the strength and power of Dean Downing of the Rapha Condor team. Here he is climbing Scotland’s Mennock Pass in the 2008 Tour of Britain. To make it extra hard for himself he’s schlepping a pannier bag. And it’s full of bricks, too.

OK, he’s not, it’s a pannier bag on a touring bike behind Downing but made you look twice, huh? It’s the winning image - bigger - in the Tour of Britain Photo Competition and was taken by Emma Felton of Cumbria.

Over 300 people submitted their favourite images from this year’s Tour of Britain for consideration by a panel of judges, comprising professional cyclists, cycling journalists, Tour of Britain organisers and Canon, official imaging supplier and longest serving sponsors of The Tour.

The winning image was taken on stage seven of this year’s Tour of Britain, depicting Rapha – Condor – Recycling.co.uk duo Chris Newton and Dean Downing in the company of An Post’s Mark Cassidy and Juan van Heerden of the MTN Energade team.