It has been a big week for cycling and social media. It started with Tadej Pogačar being seen drafting behind a race organiser's car, which set Twitter alight, with EF Education-EasyPost boss Jonathan Vaughters adding fuel to the fire.
Not to be outdone by their team's greatest opponent, Jumbo-Visma decided to break the internet - well, the cycling internet, briefly - with the announcement of Jonas Vingegaard's contract extension. This vaguely interesting, but largely prosaic, news was not the cause of pandemonium, but instead the video that accompanied the release.
For some reason, the Dutch squad decided to launch the news with one of the oddest videos ever seen, AI-young Jonas Vingegaard speaking about his dreams of being a Tour de France-winning cyclist. The fact he looked more like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone than the Dane apart, the weirdest thing was "Jonas's" American accent, which he very much does not have.
Vingegaard told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that he had nothing to do with it, but that he did find it funny: "I would also like to admit that the first time I saw it, I thought 'what is this?'. I didn't quite understand it."
No one understood it, Jonas.
The final part in the exciting week for the world of cycling social media came on Thursday, when those with blue ticks on Twitter due to "legacy verification" lost their symbol, and those who had blue ticks because they had paid for Twitter Blue were revealed.
Among those giving money to Elon Musk are the UCI president, David Lappartient, cycling crusader Jeremy Vine, Eric Min, Zwift's CEO, and BikeExchange-Jayco's general manager Brent Copeland. Interesting.
Anyway, back to the tweets of the week, which are numerous this week. Keep pumping them out, lads!
1. Remco Evenepoel is not going to win the Giro d'Italia if Soudal Quick-Step insist on one bike between three. Surely that's against the rules
Working on our aerodynamics before the Giro 😂 pic.twitter.com/UyurOilSwIApril 16, 2023
2. Hair between vents = speed, according to Tadej Pogačar, so here's Thomas De Gendt trying that out. Maybe he'll win the Tour de France now
Channeling my inner Pogacar. Let the hairodynamics do the work. pic.twitter.com/9pLHIttHI8April 16, 2023
3. Talking of TDG, he watches Blackadder? Do you think this is dubbed into Flemish or he watches it in English? Either way, his helmet hair is a cunning plan
I have been watching too much Blackadder lately. It messes with my humor.April 17, 2023
4. The best pun that came out of the Tadej Pogačar drafting controversy. Nice work, Bram
Amstel is also available on draft. pic.twitter.com/tKaxUQM78UApril 16, 2023
5. Ben Turner: Classics specialist, solid rider, dog whisperer? The dog is Tom Pidcock's, by the way
6. Wish I could be as carefree and joyful as FDJ-Suez were before Amstel Gold
7. Lawrence Naesen had a sense of foreboding ahead of Flèche Wallonne. He was in the break, but ended up with a DNF, which sounds about right
Uh oh https://t.co/Lb9qTj70JcApril 18, 2023
8. It probably is not the weirdest thing a cycling team has ever done, but it's up there. Here we go, AI Jonas Vingegaard. You won't be able to get this out of your head now
A little boy can dream. Because dreams are forever. 🌟What a touch of AI can do. 🥹#Jonas2027 #rideyourdreams 💭 pic.twitter.com/620MJXa1WaApril 18, 2023
9. Huy: Vertiginous!
Bienvenue à 𝗛𝘂𝘆 🇧🇪#FlecheWallonne 📷 @MathildeLAzou pic.twitter.com/6NXACW2qC4April 19, 2023
10. One is the best Dutch cyclist of all time, the other is Anna van der Breggen. Sorry to both Demi Vollering and Anna for that bad joke, but this is lovely
11. It's those bloody lads from Soudal Quick-Step again, messing around, being silly, palling around. Honestly.
12. No shade on Joe Dombrowski here, he is not a professional actor or model, and these Oakley Katos are just a slightly different colour. Is this really how excited I'd want my cycling team about a special new pair of sunglasses, though?
13. Lorena Wiebes prefers café stops to cycling, huge news
14. Alison Jackson is back! This time, she's in a Wes Anderson film. Ummmm The French DisParis-Roubaix is as good as I can come up with. Sorry.
15. Euskaltel Euskadi just want to get one rider in the break, come on Ineos, come on
Dear @INEOSGrenadiers, could you please let the guy in orange go?Thanks beforehand. pic.twitter.com/2vsPtDgHViApril 20, 2023
16. Finally, Trek-Segafredo decided to do the opposite of Jumbo-Visma and age their riders. It's a lot less creepy and a lot funnier
Trek-Segafredo: La Doyenne Edition #LBL #LBLwomen pic.twitter.com/wYTUSDfOGzApril 20, 2023
