March Video Vault: From Rome to San Remo

After doing our video awards post after the Oscars, we realised that you all really love to watch cycling videos as much as we do! So, once a month or so, we are going to be gathering some of our favourite recent videos and posting them here in a feature we’ll call the Video Vault. This initial selection takes us from a journey from Rome to San Remo via the Passo dello Stelvio.

If you have a video you think should be included in our monthly round-ups, tweet a link to @kiss_my_panache. Enjoy the show!

1. Pippo celebrates second place

After Blel Kadri wins Roma Maxima in a solo break, Pippo Pozzatto thinks he’s won as he takes the sprint for second place.

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Tweets of the Week: It’s a new year!

Remember how much fun we had last year with Tweets of the Week? Well, the boys have had their Christmas break – as have I – and that crazy Twitterstream is getting busy again. And, selflessly, I am here to capture some of those choice tweets and share them with you. In my first column of the year, I am going to start in Belgium, because, well, I love certain Belgians … [Can’t say we’d noticed that before … – Ed]

The wonderful world of Tommeke

Note the casual nature in which our hero drapes his Belgian national jersey over the couch. I wish that was my couch.

Boonen colors

And here is the proud uncle dandling his niece on his knee – yes, I used the word ‘dandling’. It’s a great word. Should be used much more often.

Boonen niece 1

OPQS always does some sort of pillow-related photoshoot at the beginning of the season for one of their sponsors. Last year, they were resting on one another, pretending to be asleep. It was, um, odd. This year, it’s not quite so, um, odd. Or is it odder? But hey, who is that guy just in front of Tom?

OPQS pillow fight

Well, that would be Mark Cavendish, the newest member of OPQS. And here they all are on a training break. Hey, is he about to go up to the counter and bring back coffee for everyone?

OPQS coffee stopThere was some speculation on Twitter about how Cav and Tom – let’s face it, two superstars – will fit on the same team. Will they get on? Well, I think this exchange between the two of them says a lot about what we can expect this season.

Cav & Boonen

Of course, the beginning of the season means lovely new racing gear and another of my favourite Belgians, Dries Devenyns, has been channelling Fashion Police – black is slimming! Although Iljo Keisse doesn’t think Dries needs to worry about that.

Dries skinny 1

Dries skinny 2

Unfortunately in December, Alessandro Ballan had a terrible accident on a training camp ride with BMC. He broke his left leg (in two places) and a rib, punctured his lung and ruptured his spleen (which had to be removed). He’s been spending a lot of time in hospital but thankfully he is well and truly on the mend and even up for visitors.

Boonen Ballan

Ballan hospital

Get well soon, Alessandro!

Everybody’s out and about

One of the riders to watch this year is definitely SuperSagan. Everyone is expecting even bigger things out of him – especially our Panache. And with his hardworking fake tweeter on the scene, we should see a lot of him in this column throughout the year. Here he is, soaking up the sun in California.

Super Sagan 1

Does Nico look a bit strange out of his AG2R kit? He’s a Saxoff now! As is Roman Kreuziger, who is looking rather majestic in the picture below.

Roche in Saxo

Kreuziger first ride

Doesn’t PhilGil look great in his rainbow jersey? He certainly seems to have made this little boy’s Christmas! And speaking of rainbow jerseys, Marianne Vos reminds us of her embarrassment of riches.

PhilGil with fan

Marianne Vos jerseys

Cannondale (the team formerly known as Liquigas) haven’t unveiled their new kit yet. Well, we’re assuming they’ll have new kit, although I for one will miss that lime green. I really hope they keep the new kit light and citrusy – we don’t need another team of white, black and blues …

Basso ride

You can say what you want about Ivan Basso (I love him), but you can’t deny that the man has some incredibly beautiful children. The littlest guy is such a doll! And doesn’t his daughter look like Lourdes, Madonna’s daughter? (Google her, you’ll see what I mean. Really!)

Basso and kids

Shackin’ up’s all you want to do

You guys didn’t honestly think I could get through a column without name-checking My Beloved Cancellara™, did you? Here he is with teammate Haimar Zubeldia, looking happy and refreshed, ready to start a kick-ass season!

Zubeldia Fabs

And of course, there is Jens. He laughs in the face of rain and mud…

Jens fender 1

Jens fender 3

Jens fenders 2

I love how indignant he is at the thought of putting fenders on his bike. And he’s such a hard man he’s even comfortable showing us what shower gel he uses. (Well, let’s face it, he has about 100 daughters, doesn’t he?)

Jens pink gel

Jens pink gel 2

Okay, he’s not a Shacker any more (but he was for one season, remember that?) – in fact, he’s not in the pro peloton anymore, which is why Robbie McEwen hasn’t used some of Jens’s Pink Kiss shower gel and shaved those legs. I really must be obsessed with cycling, as a man’s hairy legs just look, well, wrong somehow! But you know what, he still looks great on a bike. I miss Robbie.

Robbie hairy legs

Robbie crits

I ain’t gonna say his name …

Even though I’m sick of the subject, this really was a bit too funny to leave out. As is the Scrabble tweet below. I wonder, does @NYVelocity think WWF makes the game sound more macho? Only if he’s playing @TheRock is that an acceptable abbreviation.

Lance panto horse

Omerta scrabble

It’s boring! No, it’s brilliant!

There was a lot of ‘Rapha designs the most boring kit ever for Team Sky’ when they released the initial design. Maybe it looked a bit flat because it wasn’t shown modelled by Ladies’ Favourite™ Bernie Eisel as it is here. As soon as Emily Maye‘s fantastic pictures of the new kit came on, the crowd went wild! Including Panache, who had been pretty sceptical. But he’s man enough to admit when he’s made a mistake.

Sky Rapha panache

Apparently, Peter Kennaugh is the new thinking woman’s crumpet. So Sky have both PK and Bernie … it’s only a matter of time before female fans start throwing their knickers at them when they’re on the warm-up turbos.

Sky Rapha Kennaugh

Sky Rapha Emily

Sky Rapha Bernie EBH

Speaking of underwear, this might be taking marginal gains just a little too far. Is Sir Dave afraid that the boys can’t keep track of their own pants? What is this, summer camp?

Sky Raphaunderwear

The Phinney fashion plate

Hmmm, not sure about this but just as it wouldn’t be a Tweets column without Fabs, it wouldn’t be a Tweets column without Hollywood Phinney. So here he is!

Taylor Phinney Bieber

Crazy animal picture

What does this have to do with cycling, I hear you cry?! Well, nothing, except it was posted by a cycling fan so, you know what, it goes in. Because I think it’s one of the most amusing Tweets of the Week, hands down …

Walnut head
Here’s hoping you all have a little adventure this week. Just remember, stay safe on the roads. See you next week, Tweeties!

Friday Feature: Racing in the rain – VeloEye Davide Calabresi

VeloEye Davide Calabresi was at Il Lombardia last Saturday and managed to be at the start, the middle and the finish. Here is a selection of some of his fantastic pictures of the day. (All photographs © Davide Calabresi)

Well, hello boys!

The colourful field for the start of the Race of the Falling Leaves

An Acqua & Sapone forearm and a Sky haunch

It’s the King of the World, bigger than any of you mere mortals!

Has anyone else noticed PhilGil’s rainbow helmet? I’m undecided as to if I like it or not, but then, who am I to question the actions of the King?

A fresh-faced Damiano Cunego. This man does not age. At all. Ever. When he’s 70? He’ll look just like this

Seems Ivan Basso is trying to develop a Dick Dastardly vibe. Still the most elegant man in the peloton though

The splendidly named Eros Capecchi getting out of the way before an Euskaltel rider can fall off his bike

Alberto Contador doing one of a million interviews at the start of the race

What the start of a race looks like when you’re one of the greatest cyclists on the planet

Ryder Hesjedal (note the saucy cooling panel) and the surprisingly beefy Andrea Pasqualon

Joaquim Rodriguez rolls to the start of the fifth and final Monument of the season: did he know it was going to be his day?

Bertie makes a fan’s day

And the heavens opened …

Alessandro Ballan rides as domestique for the King of the World. Unfortunately they both came a cropper later in the race

A cyclist’s life is just so cushy, isn’t it?

A gaunt face for a gruelling race

The weather was so atrocious, even the Farneses found it hard to glow

Vincenzo Nibali does not look like a happy man … Little did he know, he’d be whipping up a risotto on the Giro d’Italia presentation stage the next day. That would have cheered him up

Olé Purito!

Purito not only won one of the most beautiful races in the cycling calendar, but also earned enough points to become the undisputed World Number One

Follow Davide on Twitter and Instagram and visit www.dc-photos.it