Tweets: Looking forward to a new year

Yes, yes, Tweets of the Week has been a bit hit or miss over the holiday period, but hopefully I’ll get my act together and Tweets will be back on track as a weekly Tuesday treat. In the meantime, here are some tweets from the last few weeks to get you into the mood for the season start in Australia.

Pharmers in the dell

Well, not in the dell as much as in a hotel in Spain. The Quickstep boys were in Calpe for their team presentation and they shared some pictures with us. Isn’t that sweet? First up, Tom and his magnificent Boonens in … beachwear?

Personally, I could have done without the picture in the lower right hand corner of Cav in a pretzel position. Thank God it was taken from the side. (See where this column is going? It may get worse! #StayAlert!)

Oh, and speaking of Cav, seems other members of the flying public aren’t enamoured with his special treatment by British Airways. Apparently, Mark was wearing a tracksuit.

And of course there’s a new Pharmer in town, Mick Jagger. He’s looking pretty good in his new kit. He’s probably just thrilled that he doesn’t have to don Sky’s mesh skinsuit!

California dreamin’

Cannondale decided to make their team presentation in California – apt in that Peter Sagan pretty much rules North American races these days. Looks like SuperSagan is ready for another great year!

So Sagan is going to take the challenge to Cancellara and Boonen in the spring Classics, but it seems he’s making another kind of challenge as well. He’s challenging That Boy Phinney in the cultivation of gravity-defying hair!

Lovely picture of The Elegant Mr Basso looking mesmerised by that fluffy bouffant of Sagan’s!

Wild in the country

Speaking of That Boy Phinney, BMC’s team presentation/training camp threw up some interesting pictures. A few columns ago, we saw Fabs using TRX equipment to stretch and get that core strong, now we see the BMC boys doing some, uh, stretching. One of my favourite things about this tweet? Seeing Inner Ring use the word ‘twerk’.

After they had their twerk training, looks like the boys were dropped off in the middle of nowhere to start some sort of pioneer settlement. If you look very closely, you can see Pa driving the Ingalls clan into Walnut Grove to pick up supplies from Olson’s Mercantile. See the wagon in the background?

You can see that That Boy Phinney is taking Sagan’s hair challenge seriously. He is coiffing with intent in this cover story for Velonews.

You know, looks like Neal Rogers has a bit of a mancrush on Phinney. To be honest, I suspect everyone has a mancrush on Taylor Phinney, so no shame there.

Earning their stripes

The importance of the spring classics to Trek Factory team was reiterated in the launch at Roubaix, with a fan day and team presentation. And, oh me oh my, how happy am I that Fabs is back? (Hint: very.) The pinstripes got a bit of a mixed reception from the Twitterati, though.

That said, looks like the fans had a great day with the riders!

The lovely Danielle – who often supplies us with great pics of the peloton – got to work immediately. (As a big Cancellara fan, of course she needs some Swiss red in there!)

Don’t look behind you!

Garmin announced their new charity partner just after New Year. It would be the WWF, whose mascot is a Panda. Dan Martin is never going to get away from his spirit animal now.

Give me a spare sock and some yarn

Not sure how this conversation got started but it did. Ah yes, a flight attendant was trying to chat up Panache!

This is Argogod Marcel Kittel …

And the Velvet Samurai.

The Gruppetto

Oh heavens, another cyclist will delusions of rockstarness. At least Moser doesn’t have daft sideburns.

There’s the perfect tool for every job.

Purito as superhero.

Gasparotto as an irritated doll.

Jens’ daily routine.

I was quite charmed by this little message from the world champion.

When I first read this, I thought Panache was talking about Sky going back to the team car for some cheeky energy gels after the cut-off time, but I think he was talking about illegal television feed.

But if there is another pesky energy gel dilemma, Richie Porte knows where to keep emergency supplies.

Ag2r haven’t changed their kit that much – but JournalVelo sees the logic behind the design. (I think these guys could use some coiffure advice from Phinney or Sagan!)