Tweets of the Week: Hugs and hazards and Harelbeke

Pink shoes, rival affections, one tiny bike and a great sofa, the Lion King, naked bandages, shutterbugs, a Quintana quip, camp tattoos, bad goggles and much, much more! It’s Tweets of the Week!!!

E3 Harelbeke

E3 is always a great race and it gives us all a taste of the month to come. Anyone who loves the classics would have been particularly thrilled by the thought of Tom and His Magnificent Boonens racing at full strength with the Sacred Haunches himself.

E3 Boonen bw

I say this all the time, but I love these two guys because their fierce rivalry never gets spiky, fractious, trash-talking or anything other than respectful.

E3 Fabs Boonen 2

How on God’s good earth can that woman standing in the middle of Tom and Fabs look so … bored???!!!

E3 Fabs Boonen 1 E3 Fabs Boonen 4 E3 Fabs Boonen 3

This season, that Luca Paolini is really getting some camera time. Here, he gives chase to the breakaway with Fabs on his wheel.

E3 Luca drivingIn the end, it was Peter Sagan who was the victor in E3. Kind of took us by surprise in that he’s been looking a bit off his game lately. But this surely means that the next few weeks are going to be mighty interesting.

Fabs E3 quote

So Niki Terpstra sure does have a Henry VIII pose on with his unashamed presentation of his codpiece. As Scott says, at least Geraint is showing some class (although, Scott, to be fair, Peter isn’t doing anything untoward either).

E3 Terpstra Thomas dignity But then, when your race poster is this, what would you expect?

E3 Harelbeke womenBut a big thank you goes out to these guys.

E3 Harelbeke men

Get your Gent on

Another exciting day of racing on Sunday with Gent-Wevelgem. We’ll start with some lovely pictures.

Fabs GW game face GW muscles

Peter Sagan was defending champion but a huge crash at the sharp end of the sprint for the line gave ArgoGiant John Degenkolb a prestigious win.

GW podium champers

This next tweet should set you to thinking …

GW jump out of car

And here is a picture of what it might look like if you did jump out of your car at speed. Fran Ventoso, however, wasn’t the worst off in the crash near the finish.

Naked rider with bandagesUnfortunately, Andre Greipel seemed to bear the brunt of the crash and is now out for some time with some nasty injuries. He was in such good form, this is really too bad. We wish him a speedy recovery. GW Greipel injury

Stijn was rarin’ for more, apparently.

GW Devolder ride home

Shutterbugs

With all the teams scattered hither and yon, racing their hearts out, there’s plenty of scope for some great pictures. Sit back and enjoy. First up, a Gruber Images special. Magnificent, no?

P Gruber rain P Basso mile 2 P Keisse classics P IAM smile 2 P Kwiat Uran pic

The luckiest woman in photography, Emily Maye, is again embedded with the Trek team this year and has taken some fabulous photographs. Including this one of Fabs, surveying the crowd chaos.

P Fabs E3 bus

To check out all of Emily’s photo galleries of the team from the start of the season, go to the Trek Factory team website. Well worth a look.

Fabs reconnaissance

P IAM smile 3 P Moser photoshoot P Garmin feed

Oh, and this is how NOT to photograph a rampaging peloton. Complete idiot. Is it just me, though, or has this guy dropped in from 1983? The two-tone hair in a wedge cut, the American varsity jacket … Just me? Really?

G Stupid photographer 1

I suspect he will be the GreenEDGE bus of the classics – popping up in all kinds of pictures.

G Stupid photographer 2

Meanwhile, back in Spain …

It was an all-out battle between Joaquim Rodriguez and Alberto Contador for the top step of the podium at the Volta a Catalunya. Purito came out on top, but not for want of trying on the part of Baby Blackbird.

V Kit Contador wrapped V Contador freezing V Contador dreaming V Purito congrats V Purito congrats emoji V Purito full flow V Hard face

Fashion questions

Socks over leg-warmers. WHITE socks over leg-warmers. >buzzer< Try again, contestant.

G Knees socksThe Lion King might have put on a few pounds since his heyday but his confidence in his physique has not suffered in any way. Do any Americans out there remember the doll ‘Stretch Armstrong’? Modelled on Arnie, Stretch was filled with gel and had this enormous torso. This picture reminds me of him.

Naked Cippo

Could these shoes actually be pinker than That Boy Phinney‘s GiroShoes from last year? I think so!

G Pozzato pink shoes

I just don’t know what to say about this picture.

P Chava gurning

Can you really say no?

G Campy tattoosStop it. Stop. It. STOP IT!!!!

G Dan Martin gogglesThey look unbelievably small and, well, yes, slightly creepy hung up like that, don’t you think?

 

Fabs skinsuitsTo be honest, neither of these guys comes off very well in these get-ups, but I think Westra‘s all-turquoise get up – it’s the big gloves, actually, that are freaking me out – is posing the most urgent of fashion questions. Stef Clement looks like he’s saying to himself, “If I just don’t look at him, he won’t hurt me…”

G Belkin Astana chatThe Gruppetto

It’s less than 100 days until the start of the Tour de France in Yorkshire. Bernard Hinault is getting into the spirit early.

G TdF Hinault pint

I love this poster. Love it.

G TdF retro posterOh dear! Is it just me or is celebrity culture just giving us too much information?

G Cav below par

I love this description from Manuel Quinziato – “like old retired men in front of a working area!”

G BMC crowd

Oooooh, a Nairo slapdown! (I suspect Mick Jagger was lost in the airport again, which is why he lagged behind.)

G Quintana rest of Colombians

Sweeeeeeet!!!!

G Ulissi daughterAlthough I’m worried that Koen de Kort might have stolen Lia Ulissi’s bike. (Hey, check out that sofa-thingy! How unbelievably cool is THAT?)

G Koen de Kort mini bikeUm, answers on a postcard, I think.

G Phinney extra legsI love this sooooo much!

G Cannon wedding 2And they say there’s no such thing as miracles.

G Schleck attackThis is a good idea that needs to be brought back. Perhaps that will stem the outbreak of facial hair in the peloton these days.

G Beard tax medalThe Last Word

Picture 4

 

Leave a Reply