James Startt, Tour de France photographer: “When the peloton arrives, it brings the landscape to life”

On the occasion of the Rencontres de la photographie d'Arles , which will be held from July 7 to October 5, 2025, "Libération" is giving pride of place to photography. Find the special issue "Libé des photographes" on newsstands on July 12, 13 and 14 or in its digital version .

With his tall, hat-wearing figure, James Startt is one of the well-known figures in the Tour de France press room. He has haunted it for more than three decades: the Paris-based American photographer is covering his 36th edition of the event this year. "After 20 years, you get a medal, after 35, a medal, and then you can go and die," the 63-year-old says, laughing. These trinkets count for less than the prestigious awards he has received for his work on cycling, including two World Sports Photography Awards in the last five years. For the Libération des photographes newspaper, he comments on a series produced for the newspaper in 1986 by Sebastião Salgado, the Franco-Brazilian master of black and white.