Tweets of the week: Cow (coo?) fever hits the World Championships

It's always the same with Tweets of the Week. You wait for ages for one, and then two come along at once. We are back to our usual schedule now, fear not.

This World Championships has been taken over by cow fever. No, not BSE or foot and mouth disease, but sheer excitement over the supplementary prizes handed out to podium finishers at the super Worlds. They are fluffy Highland cattle, with rainbow stripe horns. While surely a rainbow jersey brings more cachet, the bovine toys are tremendously exciting.

Tangential fun fact: The fun hot beef drink Bovril (it is very much not veggie, tastes like beef stock tea) takes it name from the Latin name for cow, Bovinae, and the name of the magical life-giving force in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 utopian novel The Coming Race, Vril. Told you it was tangential.

Apparently Highland cattle date from the mid-nineteenth century, and have shaggy coats to be able to withstand the cold climes of Scotland. Among those hit by "coo" fever are Josh Tarling, who said he wants to get his hands on one after the elite time trial, Stefan Küng, who already has one, and Annemiek van Vleuten, who met a real life cow!

Professional cyclists, just like ordinary people, are easily impressed, so it's no surprise that an adorable little cow is all that the Worlds needed to get truly exciting.

In other social media news this week, both Mathieu van der Poel and Michael Matthews have been spotted trying out Scottish special drinks - not Bovril, don't worry - and Alison Jackson does some excellent product placement for Tim Hortons.

1. Dan Bigham's bike looks great, but was sadly not quite fast enough to beat Filippo Ganna in the individual pursuit last weekend. Maybe it needs to be pinker?

2. Thrills at the mixed relay TTT as the six medallists on each team each got a cow, much to the excitement of the official World Championships account

3. Stefan Küng was especially pleased with his cow

4. Küng is just flaunting his Highland cow here, which he insisted on calling a beef. LEARN THE WORD FOR COW STEFAN COME ON. The reason in English we have two words for farm animals and their produce - cow/beef, pig/pork, sheep/mutton etc - is thanks to the bloody Normans introducing French into the nobility I believe. Maybe we will let the native French speaker off here.

5. What's better than signing Jonathan Milan? A funky t-shirt with Jonathan Milan's face on, which may or may not ever be available

6. Lidl-Trek did the same for Clara Copponi, which I really like

7. And Tao Geoghegan Hart, although the team announced the Londoner's arrival with this slightly threatening video

8. Don't racers just keep getting younger these days! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

9. If you're going to be cycling, I wouldn't necessarily advise a kilt 

10. Michael Matthews here, with his first ever sip of Tennents lager, one assumes. He would go on to DNF in the road race, but it probably wasn't the beer's fault

11. Lampaert and Lamperti in the same team is going to get very confusing

12. I remain unconvinced that road stars can just turn up at the MTB Worlds and perform, and the hype seems undeserved, but still, cool to have Van der Poel and Pidcock aiming for another kind of world title

13. Alison Jackson is back making her funky videos, and here she seems to be working alongside Tim Hortons, although it's unclear whether she's being paid for the blatant product placement. I've never been to a Tim Hortons. Should I? Probably not

14. Mathieu van der Poel went for Irn Bru over Tennents, which is probably wise, but I really wonder what he thought of it. It's a confusing taste, look and smell, that's for sure

15. Back to the cows, and BC's performance director is trying to make his Highland cow extra special

16. Away from pro cycling, what the hell is going on here and how has he managed that in cleats?

17. Tadej Pogačar has shunned Tennets or Irn Bru and is instead looking for Scottish delicacies. I don't think a battered mars bar would ever be on a pro cyclist's menu, but haggis could be, I guess? Just don't tell him what it really is

18. What you want after an extremely long and taxing time trial is a cobbled climb, right? I'm not sure the cobbles are quite Roubaix worthy, more like Flanders. Incidentally, Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned at Stirling Castle, where the cobbles lead

19. Annemiek van Vleuten actually met a Highland cow!!!! What a treat. Will she get a miniature one on Sunday?

20. And finally, David Millar has bought an Ineos Grenadier. Proof that cyclists aren't always right. SUVs are killing the planet. Do better.