Once the Dauphine and Suisse have been raced, cycling goes a touch quiet in the run-up to the razzlemadazzle that is the Tour de France. But that doesn’t mean the Twittesphere has stopped turning. Oh no! There’s national championships (#BatChamps), training rides (have a heart for Koen de Kort!) and other treats enough to fill our TWEETS OF THE WEEK!
BatChamps!
Riders around the cycling nations have been vying for those national jerseys (and praying that, if they do win them, their teams won’t make a hash of the design … ). Midge has been keeping everyone updated through #BatChamps (origin of said nickname: she texted me one day and said, ‘What should we do for the Bat Champs coming up?’ Autocorrect gives us our quirks …) Here are some of the highlights.
I really love Pro Cycling Trumps animations.
There’s a lot of heart in that Ethiopian team.
The most elegant man on a bike, Daniel Teklahaminot will be looking stylish in his Eritrean bat champs jersey
It’s a new Belgian champion, Yves Lampaert pipping teammate Philippe Gilbert to the jersey
Meanwhile, over in Poland, KwiatKrush is back in the red-and-white
Not pictured, Bodnar’s ITT podium where he was presented with a sword. A sword!
Purito at the wheel and on the radio … (I miss him in the peloton …)
We may never see Peter Sagan in an ordinary, everyday Bora jersey. He should put all his championship jerseys on and then strip them off one by one on the Champs Elysees …
Eddy Higgs-Boson Haagen-Daz makes it number 10 …
We <3 Larry!
Larry Warbasse has spent a year in Captain American jersey and did it proud! He now hands it over to Jonny Brown, who races for Hagens Berman Axeon but we just want to say, Larry, you were a great champion!
And how is this for an astounding accomplishment? Coryn Rivera takes the women’s US champion’s jersey. Seventy-second championship???!!!!! WOW
Just hangin’ out
This really has been a tweet worth waiting for – Petr Vakoc, laid low by horrific injuries after being hit by a truck in January, is recovering well. A film about resilience, hard work and an amazing attitude. We will be popping open the VeloVoices Champagne when Petr is racing again.
A fond farewell
An important story, compassionately told
Talkin’ some pre-Tour
Will this work? Will it not? No one knows for sure. Will it be fun to watch? Oh yeah. Here’s a little film, with possibly the most disconcerting opening clip … ‘Nairo, speak to me, Nairo!’
They might not have a GC contender, but hot damn, QuickStep are sending a formidable team to the Tour. Angryphilippe! JillBear! Jungels BOB JUNGELS! Go-go Gaviria … #WeAreEXCITE
Bedhead Jr – Jasper de Buyst
Spare a thought for Koen de Kort – training with his teammate Bauke Mollema.
A little something from Orla
I think we can safely say that we’ll see Caleb in a new kit, come 2019
These guys are getting ready …
This is a worrying tweet – it sounds like there are some real problems for Fabio Aru. It feels like cycling has chewed him up and spit him out. Whatever the problem might be, we hope he finds his way through.
The Gruppetto
Who feels old?
Alberto Contador – nothin’ but net
Fans of Hannah’s Grand Tour Cookbook will be happy to hear this news!
The Northern Line’s designs are getting the attention they so richly deserve – here in the latest issue of Pro Cycling
And a new style of print from them
Lordy …