When Irish photographer Sean Rowe finally completed what became an epic journey to the press centre he found an empty facility and news that photographers are banned from the roads for the races.
Very well known on the Irish cycling scene for brilliantly documenting road, track and off road racing with his cameras, Sean Rowe also travels abroad to picture the Irish team from time to time.
This week he’s in Doha for the World Road Championships and judging by his first comments on the place and the general set-up the media and other visitors may be on for an “interesting” experience.
Rowe and a group of other journalists were unable to get near the press centre for the longest time despite being on board a designated bus that was supposed to take them there.
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And when they eventual did arrive after being turned away by police officers at several junctions they found an empty facility despite all the riders being on the course training for the TTs and road races.
But most worrying are the new arrangements at these Worlds for photographers like Rowe.
Usually press accreditation gets you behind the scenes or at the very least into those places where the public/cycling fans can’t get to capture close-up photographs and TV images.
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But not in Doha; no sir. Instead, all but a handful of photographers will be banished into the crowds with everyone else.
Despite unprecedented move is for an event that will be covered globally by tens of thousands news outlets form the smallest of cycling websites to the biggest newsprint and online sports and general news publications in the world.
We’ll let Rowe take up his tale of woe from yesterday:
“We had an epic journey to the press centre this morning,” he said.
“We spent 1½ hours getting from the accreditation centre in the Doha Exhibition centre to here,” he said from the press centre.
“The media bus was refused entry at several junctions before yours truly got out and talked to every policeman that we met to gain access to the Pearl where the centre is.
“We have just been told there is no access to the road for the races, including TTs unless you are far enough up the food chain to have a red bib and then only 10 of them will be allowed.
“I am looking forward to watching the fight for those! The rest of us will have to be behind the barriers with the public.
“Watch this space for update; I ‘m sure this will change a hundred times between now and tomorrow.”
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