Very much so on the racing road bikes. Next time you're in an LBS with some racing roadie bikes look at the brake calipers. They are short arm styles and hug closely to the wheel and tire. But if you look past at the fork and stays you won't see much more room for things anyway.
This is why cyclocross bikes or "hybrid" style frames make better commuters since they have room for fenders and slightly larger tires. You generally see that style of bike set up with canti or V brakes.
In this case though he's got a disc wheelset. I'm guessing from this that he's got a hybrid or cyclocross frame set. I haven't seen any pukka racing bikes that are willing to suffer with the weight of a disc system.