Welcome to Tweets of the Week, our none-too-serious seven-day delve into the world of cycling on social media.
Much of this week’s social media roundup seems to inhabit a kind of inverse universe, in which everything has been turned on its head. Peter Sagan becoming a celebrity dancer we are all just about coming to terms with – and there’s a new and rather left-field development on that front this week, of course.
But Magnus Sheffield at the wheel of the Ineos Grenadiers team bus? Mark Cavendish running? And dogs doing cyclo-cross? And a Race to the Sun that is anything but? Actually, hang fire, Paris-Nice is grotty more often than not.
Thankfully there’s plenty of sense-making social media goodness in here too. With Lotte Kopecky finessing her training under blue Spanish skies, and Sir Chris Hoy returning to Buckingham Palace to pick up the Commonwealth Games baton from the King.
However, in the immortal words of sports news presenters the world over (probably), any Manchester United fans may wish to look away now.
1. In more Peter Sagan / Dancing with the Stars news, this week a shirtless Sagan does his best Ken impression. Almost uncanny, so it is.
2. Magnus Sheffield swaps two wheels for one. Given he appears to be resting his eyelids, we’re going to assume it isn’t moving.
3. Perhaps not a world first, but how many pooches can profess to having a CX race in their palmarés?
4. Les Amis de Roubaix re-set some of the famous pavé in preparation for the big day. Not too smooth now!
5. Paris-Nice: Fred Wright demonstrates the skills he spent years learning on his home track at Herne Hill as a youngster.
6. Some last-minute prep in Spain for Lotte Kopecky before she heads across to a historic Milan-San Remo.
7. Sir Chris Hoy picks is given the 2026 Commonwealth Games baton by King Charles at Buckingham Palace. It marked 500 days to go until the Games, held in Hamilton, Canada in July and August next year.
8. Whatever the weather turned out to be, they should probably just have been glad they weren’t riding Paris-Nice.
9. Here’s a timely example, courtesy of Daniel Friebe, of what riders in Paris-Nice – aka the Race to the Sun – had to endure.
10. Oof. Sorry about this one, United fans.
11. And finally, Mark Cavendish running? In Paris? He’s supposed to be doing the full marathon later this year, so think of this as a warm-up…
