With the first week of the 2018 Tour de France completed, the riders are enjoying their first day off from racing in the Annecy.
Rest days are invariably far from that for riders, as well as teams and staff. As well as physically recuperating via massages and trips to the team physio, the day will invariably include a light recovery ride, possibly a press conference, lots of eating and other essential duties before racing recommences the following morning.
>>> Who’s out of the Tour de France after stage nine?
And, of course it’s a chance for riders to catch up on social media. Here we collect together some of the Tour rest day tweets that have caught our eye.
After a tough first week, UAE Team Emirates and BMC Racing were some of the few teams that tweeted photos of themselves actually riding.
What’s a rest day look like @letour?#uaeteamemirates #aixlesbains pic.twitter.com/FwxeGnqXtb
— Philippe Mauduit (@phmauduit) July 16, 2018
Time to head out for an easy #TDF2018 rest day ride 👌👊. #TDFChill pic.twitter.com/yX4hhkQLoa
— BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) July 16, 2018
Chris Froome and the rest of the Team Sky pod had a stop to enjoy the view
Nice to be able to take a moment to enjoy the scenery for a change 👌😁 #RestDay #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/9umArMKEpd
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 16, 2018
For the most part the riders seemed content to go for a swim in Lake Annecy.
Baignade dans le lac d’Annecy#TDFChill pic.twitter.com/3kXD5n1YsV
— Team Fortuneo Samsic (@Fortuneo_Samsic) July 16, 2018
The riders are definitely enjoying their well-deserved rest day in and around Lake Annecy! #TDFchill #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/kRvdcOJBbL
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) July 16, 2018
Officially restday pictures from the @Lotto_Soudal team…#restdaysarebestdays thanks for the birthday wishes #legsup pic.twitter.com/Dhf5sjZRfW
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) July 16, 2018
Meanwhile the rest of the rest of the team staff are hard at work keeping the stocks full
🇫🇷 #TDFChill
😋 #BAHRAINMERIDA🇧🇭 food room on the first rest day at @LeTour pic.twitter.com/VurKVDC2QE
— Team Bahrain Merida (@Bahrain_Merida) July 16, 2018
Although Dimension Data must be short staffed if they’re sending a man who spent yesterday in the breakaway on the cobbles to do the shopping.
No rest day for @ReinvanRensburg!
After spending Sunday in the break to Roubaix, he's at the back of the peloton on Monday in Annecy. pic.twitter.com/5uGPO5RRyx
— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) July 16, 2018
But for the most part, the rest day is about resting, as demonstrated by Maciej Bodnar, Andrey Amador, and Niki Terpstra
No words needed 😎 @LeTour 🇫🇷#relaxing pic.twitter.com/4VXQE3mT0z
— Maciej Bodnar (@maciejbodnar) July 16, 2018
Día descanso !!! Quizás el mejor del Tour 😀 pic.twitter.com/96rDBoxvdX
— Andrey Amador (@Andrey_Amador) July 16, 2018
— Niki Terpstra (@NikiTerpstra) July 16, 2018
The racing resumes on Tuesday with stage 10, a mountainous stage from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornard over 158.5km that see the first splits in the general classification.