LONDON (BRAIN) — Getty Images has acquired TDWsport, a cycling photography business and archive owned by Tim de Waele. De Waele has joined Getty Images as a staff photographer to lead the company's cycling coverage.
De Waele has shot every major cycling event globally over his 27-year career, including 25 Grand Tours, several Olympic Games and World Championships. He has built an archive of more than 375,000 images.
The acquisition of TDWsport's archive will form the basis for a new Velo Collection on gettyimages.com. The company said it will also significantly increase its coverage of global cycling events under de Waele's leadership.
"Sport imagery lies at the very foundation of Getty Images and we work hard to lead the industry in the creation and delivery of world-class sports content for media as well as sports governing bodies, teams and the vital ecosystem of partners and licensees that support them," said Ken Mainardis, senior vice president of editorial at Getty Images. "Tim is a leader in cycling photography — a huge talent with deep institutional knowledge of the cycling industry — so we could not be more excited to have him join the team and lead our coverage of this sport."
De Waele said, "It is an honor to join forces with the talented photographers at Getty Images, as many of them have been friends and colleagues for many years.
"It is also an incredibly exciting moment for cycling. With the support of Getty Images' unparalleled global distribution and event technology, we will be able deliver premium imagery faster than ever to the sports' business and fan communities around the world."
The Velo Collection, including the TDWsport archive, will be available on gettyimages.com starting next month.
