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Cycling Weekly
Cycling Weekly
Sport
Tom Davidson

Tweets of the week: In praise of the Giro d'Italia Twitter account

Giro (Organization) Tadej Pogačar Andrea Lotte Kopecky Alex Richardson Novak Djokovic Peter Sagan Sam Bennett IntermarchéWanty
Tadej Pogačar wearing pink sunglasses with two tweets superimposed on the picture.

Whoever is in charge of the Giro d'Italia Twitter account (yes, Elon, we know it's X now), deserves a raise. 

Typically, an official race account will post a handful of things. These include, and are often limited to: sponsor promos, time gaps to the breakaway, and stage winner photos. The Giro account is not bound by such limits. No, the Giro account is a trove of visionary content. 

One video in particular took off on Twitter this week. It has almost a million views, and captures an Intermarché-Wanty mechanic pushing a rider after a wheel change. 

Of course, that's not all it is. The video then goes on to remix the mechanic, whose name is Andrea, showing him in a range of different scenes; he pushes an Olympic runner, helps Lightning McQueen from the Disney film Cars, and scores a diving header in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, all set to the Naughty Boy and Beyoncé song 'Runnin’'. 

From the original footage, most of us would have just seen a mechanic doing their job, a standard mid-stage event, little to write home about. The Giro admin saw an opportunity. A chance to make prime content.

In fact, the person, or persons, behind the account has been at it from the start. The content has been relentless. There have been numerous references to first division Italian football, homemade memes, and a claim that the pink hues of the Northern Lights were a ploy from the race's marketing team. 

It is all, plain and simply, good fun. And cycling fans have been loving the flow of silly posts. 

"The admin of the Giro d'Italia is pure talent," wrote one X user. "The Giro admin is so on fire," wrote another. One described the content as "internet gold". "The Giro admin is cooking!" a more hip-speeched fan said.

Here are a few hits from the Giro account's recent catalogue, plus Sam Bennett dressed up as Tadej Pogačar, Lotte Kopecky on a running track, and tennis star Novak Djokovic's dodgy helmet style. 

1. Rumour has it he's still running

2. You don't reach speeds like that without training... late at night, apparently, in underground car parks

3. Who would win in a race between Lotte Kopecky and Andrea the Intermarché-Wanty mechanic? 

A post shared by Lotte Kopecky (@lottekopecky)

A photo posted by on

4. The glow of Tadej Pogačar's pink jersey was seen as far away as Stoke-on-Trent

5. I give it a week before the UCI bans this position

6. Pierre Baguette are a team in vogue. Here's one of their riders, up-and-coming Slovakian Peter Sagan, signing an autograph mid-race

7. It appears everyone got the 'hands together' memo apart from Tudor Pro Cycling's Matteo Trentin

8. At least wear a casquette, Novak

9. Maybe the world tennis number one could take some fashion tips from Hugo Hofstetter

10. When you and your mate decide to kill time in the airport by trying on the sunglasses

11. 69 minutes (nice) too late, Mr Winston. Off to the slammer with you

12. Now that's what I call a royal portrait

13. When you're a selfless lead-out man, any trip to the podium is a big event

14. Only 9.4km/h? There must've been a headwind

A post shared by Strava Wankers (@stravawankers_)

A photo posted by on

15. Sam Bennett took his first and second victories of the season at the 4 Days of Dunkirk. It turns out all he needed was a go-faster Pogačar tuft

16. And finally, spare a thought for Alex Richardson, who, in a sea of spectator cowbells, thought he heard the bell lap early at the Lincoln GP, and celebrated accordingly

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