Oh it’s been a great opening weekend at the Giro d’Italia! Lots of tweets, handpicked and collated just for YOU!

#GiroCrush

That Boy Phinney has come into this year’s Giro just as he did last year – with a cheeky grin and an effervescent spirit for everything this fabulous grand tour has to offer.

I was thinking about this the other day and I reckon Taylor Phinney really is the only guy who could get away with those pink jeans. Whilst in those pink jeans, That Boy stopped by a local pizzeria and next thing you know, he’s workin’ the dough, spreadin’ the sauce, going all Zoolander in that big white apron!

He’s even on his bike, ready to deliver the pies! Want more? Go to the BMC flickr set.

But That Boy Phinney has a lookalike! Uncanny.

And away we go!

The Giro starts and finishes on a pink carpet. This picture caught my eye as there was some sort of touching Beauty & The Beast re-enactment going on here. I don’t know about you guys – I think that mascot is a bit scary with those multi-coloured horns but it’s downright terrifying when it grows to seven feet.

This year, breaking with tradition (perhaps to start a new one?), last year’s winner, Sharpie Ryder Hesjedal, was given the first maglia rosa of 2013 to wear on the opening stage. Sir Paul Smith, who designed this year’s jerseys, made sure it fit properly.

During the presentations, flags were flown. In Wiggo‘s case, the Union Flag was used as some sort of jousting weapon. A warning to Nibali, perhaps?

That Boy Phinney was a bit more freewheeling with the Stars & Stripes.

Cav will be Cav

Now that grand tour season has begun, we are seeing a lot more of a certain Mark Cavendish. How he’ll fare over the three weeks is up for debate, but one thing is for sure – he’s one of the superstars of the peloton and he knows it and, for the most part, embraces it.

The Manx Missile took the first stage of the Giro – and promptly swore on live feed (not in anger, but because the earpiece wouldn’t work). His reaction was, quite simply, sooooo Cav.

And his former bromance, Ladies’ Favourite Bernie Eisel, sent a congratulatory tweet, doing a bit of dissing Nacer Bouhanni who is considered a bit of a loose cannon in a sprint. Nacer said what so many of Bernie’s female fans think every minute of every day.

As it was the team time trial on stage two, that meant a pink skin suit. Blimey.

DAD!! Brad’s talking about the Tour again!!!!

Ah, the old yin and yang of Wiggins/Froome just keeps yinning and yanging, doesn’t it? For those who don’t know anything about it (the cave dwellers amongst you), Wiggo gave an interview to various outlets in the run-up to the Giro, talking about doing the double, taking leadership of the Tour de France, holding form, et cetera et cetera. Froome continued to say what he’s been saying since the end of July last year: “I am the leader of the TdF team.” For those of you who aren’t sick to the back teeth of the yinning and the yanging, here are the highlights.

Then this bombshell early on Monday. “Read my lips: no new leader. We’re staying with Froome.”

Is this why Inner Ring found Wiggo playing the tourist on the ferry back to the mainland after stage two?

Gruppetto

Nice pic from Movistarlet Alex Dowsett.

Okay, this picture doesn’t have anything to do with the Giro, other than the mag hits the newsstands during the Giro. Hmmm, he might be good at that pizza dough stuff that Taylor was doing this week!

Speaking of pizza, if this Nutella variation is one of the restaurant’s specials, do you think that maybe the Great Nutella Heist™ wasn’t German at all, but an Italian Job?

Luckily PhilGil wasn’t riding when that dog jumped out at the riders. There would have been some fireworks!

I love it when people make their own little art installations around cycling. I put SSpiaggia’s carrot art after the dog because she used to have a picture of her dog in a wig. I was disappointed that the dog in the picture above did not have a wig on. Now *that* would have been a sight to see.

Tiago seems very happy to be riding such a fantastic race, but with those eyebrows, doesn’t he remind you of someone?

Ever the bloodhound for a good story, Velocast may have uncovered a Sicilian scandal.

Colourised or not, it still looks epic after all these years!

The last word