It was an emotional rollercoaster of a week – from Thibaut Pinot being pipped at the finish one day to taking a stage win the next day in Tour of the Alps to Romain Bardet sacrificing his chances at LBL to help a seriously injured Julian Alaphilippe. We also have the newest LBL victor and an Ardennes legend who has ridden his final spring classic. Plus a few old friends in the gruppetto. Go!
Let us sing a song of Romain Bardet
Romain Bardet is having a brilliant spring, with an audacious win in Tour of the Alps. But what he did during Liege is what makes him great.
Quelle classe. #bardet #Alaphilippe https://t.co/SB6twW90yj
— Hugues Derouard (@HDerouard) April 24, 2022
For me, the moment I will remember from both today’s LBLs was the blurry image of Romain Bardet going down the bank to try & help Alaphilippe. Sport isn’t only (or even mainly) about winning. There’s more important qualities a sportsperson can display
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) April 24, 2022
Ah man. What a guy. He's in my hall of fame https://t.co/3EtJjrFob3
— Just Pro Cycling (@justprocycling) April 24, 2022
🎥 Témoignage bouleversant plein d'émotions de Romain Bardet suite à la chute collective dont fut pris notamment Julian Alaphilippe qu'il a essayé d'aider 😲😲😲#LBL #LBL22 #cyclismepic.twitter.com/i9Cvdq329T
— catourneovale (@catourneovale) April 24, 2022
What Romain did earlier in the week …
"Siri, show me what is a great winner?"
Romain didn't forget about how important was @ThymenArensman in this win 💪
(via @romainbardet IG) pic.twitter.com/CpTUSIIwwO
— Cycling What Ifs (@cyclingwhatifs) April 22, 2022
We all waited for news of Alaphilippe during LBL – hoping for the best. While his injuries were extensive, it could have been so much worse. At time of writing, the world champion is still in hospital. We wish both LouLou and Van Wilder a complete recovery.
Two broken ribs, a broken scapula and a pneumothorax for Julian Alaphilippe after today's high-speed crash. It was a very scary incident, I'm wishing the quickest recovery to all the riders involved! #LBL pic.twitter.com/MGs2S0aJ0x
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 24, 2022
Julian Alaphilippe hasn't lost his sense of humor despite a horrible crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, according to his coach. Franck Alaphilippe, who is also the world champ's cousin, says the Frenchman will come back stronger. https://t.co/b6uKYps2Sn
— VeloNews (@velonews) April 26, 2022
You’ve been Remco’d
4 seconds later 🧨 😜
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) April 24, 2022
What a day, a dream coming true! 👊🏼🏆😍
Can't thank the team enough for all the hard work and support! Thank you to everyone for believing in me!! 💙🐺 #TheWolfpack
I hope everything is well with the people involved in the crash, especially @IlanWilder and @alafpolak1! 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/UH02FM272A
— Remco Evenepoel (@EvenepoelRemco) April 24, 2022
Not Remco’s first win in the Ardennes. In 2017 he won the Philippe Gilbert Juniors race, which finished at the foot of La Redoute, where he attacked this afternoon. And today was also Gilbert’s last Liège.
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) April 24, 2022
A fine Gruber gallery for the victor
Wantyness and Woutness
A team with no arrogance and a lot of panache, Intermarche Wanty Gobert helped make the spring classics sooooo exciting. They quietly went about their business – both on the bike and in the DS car – on Sunday and Quinten Hermans took second for an all-Belgian podium.
I'm loving this! 😍 Keeping in mind their budget, the @IntermarcheWG guys are the big winners of this spring, imo. pic.twitter.com/oKg41q70pc
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 25, 2022
Guys, check out our YouTube channel for exclusive content, like our recent video inside of @LiegeBastogneL 😃 https://t.co/8dK00AVMaf
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) April 26, 2022
Has a new friendly rivalry begun?
how it started how it's going pic.twitter.com/7w2giF0Xcx
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) April 24, 2022
📊🇧🇪Wout van Aert now finished on the podium of 4 out of 5 monuments.
Active pros with most top-3's in different monuments (max=5):
5 | 🇧🇪Philippe Gilbert
4 | 🇧🇪Wout van Aert
3 | 🇮🇹Vincenzo Nibali
3 | 🇫🇷Julian Alaphilippe
3 | 🇳🇱Mathieu van der Poel
3 | 🇸🇰Peter Sagan— Cycling Statistics 📊 (@StatsOnCycling) April 24, 2022
WVA's monument classic record, 2020→ | #LBL
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 2, 3
Percentage of being on podium: 62.5 %, in TOP8: 100 %
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) April 24, 2022
Let the goats rejoice!
It was heartbreak for Thibaut Pinot and his legion of fans on Thursday’s Tour of the Alps stage. So close … SO CLOSE
Just a kilometer away from success for Thibaut Pinot 💔 pic.twitter.com/eCpQSAx6So
— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) April 21, 2022
And again, on Friday, would history repeat itself? I was in a very quiet office and did not realise that I said ‘Oh God, I can’t bear this!’ out loud. A concerned colleague came over to check on me. I had to admit I was watching cycling on my phone … I found out yesterday from another colleague that in fact the *entire* office heard my mournful cry. They also noticed that I jumped up and down when Pinot won …
I can’t watch.
— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) April 22, 2022
Metaphorically at this point I’m leaning out of the car window panel beating the door with my fist. Allez Peanut
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) April 22, 2022
If Pinot wins this stage I may well cry, no other professional cyclist does this to me.
— Simon (@broom_wagon) April 22, 2022
The moment when everyone was happy with the winner (apart from a select few) #TotA pic.twitter.com/ixB94EzVWL
— Peter. ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿🚴♂️ (@PBXscribes) April 22, 2022
Ouiiiii pic.twitter.com/UE0kfqoUhO
— Lena (@reathina) April 22, 2022
All goats in the world after victory for @ThibautPinot in Tour of the Alps pic.twitter.com/J7gcoDJWBR
— Jonas Creteur (@jonas_creteur) April 22, 2022
Pure class
Hi @ThibautPinot ! Couldn’t say anything after finish line 😅. Strong ride and congrats for your victory 😉.
— David De La Cruz (@iamdlax) April 22, 2022
Thibaut Pinot, take a bow pic.twitter.com/VhD3wsUSdp
— adam becket (@adambecket) April 22, 2022
« Chez Pinot, les défaites sont aussi belles que les victoires »
Le portrait de Thibaut Pinot par Pierre Carey 😍 pic.twitter.com/ltgazY7rcH
— la chaine L'Équipe (@lachainelequipe) April 22, 2022
I feel like we should just enjoy these moments and not do the super French pressure thing. https://t.co/J8qSmGhfRs
— nyvelocity (@nyvelocity) April 24, 2022
One last Liege, Phil
Hi @PhilippeGilbert 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ghIKzfQu9a
— Debby 🖤💛 (@Debby_Drckx) April 23, 2022
Journalist to 🇧🇪 Philippe Gilbert: "Who's your favourite for tomorrow?"
🇧🇪 Philippe Gilbert: 👇#LBL https://t.co/FeMkPJZclL
— Domestique (@Domestique___) April 23, 2022
I love the little pat on the back from Mikael Cherel
Beautiful tribute to @PhilippeGilbert in La Redoute.
A few hundreds of times 'Phil' on the road and thousands of people clapping for him.
Which rider wouldn't feel goosebumps during this passage?#cycling #LBL22 #LBL https://t.co/BVxA8Ekf8t
— CyclingBottle (@Cyclingbottle) April 24, 2022
Caption this 📸. 🤪
Ready for @LiegeBastogneL tomorrow! 😍 Good luck champ! 👊🏼 @PhilippeGilbert
📸: ASO pic.twitter.com/y7g0oy3n1U
— Mieke Docx (@MiekeDocx) April 23, 2022
You can’t go wrong with a Gruber Insta gallery to the legend who is Philippe Gilbert
A week late but not a shower short …
The Gruppetto
Apparently, when we meet with @KNiewiadoma it always comes to a chat about Polish food: „rosół, gołąbki, kotlet schabowy”. Google it and cook it. We strongly recommend 😛🇵🇱 Oh yes, @LiegeBastogneL presentation done 😉 @INEOSGrenadiers
📷 A.S.O./Gautier Demouveaux pic.twitter.com/NHxQ01WHx2
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) April 23, 2022
Look who has a new team …
There is ALWAYS room in Tweets of the Week for Marcel Kittel and if he wants to come to VeloVoices Towers and power wash the exterior, that would not be a problem
The last word
A deep, settled, fanatic delirium was in his eyes.
— Moby Dick (@MobyDickatSea) April 26, 2022