Tweets of the week: Cyclists go to the football, and footballers take up cycling

Also, SD Worx-Protime fight over a Garmin, Magnus Cort reviews hotel rooms in yellow, and Patrick Lefevere has some self-awarenesss

Rick Zabel with social media posts overlaid
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Many of us here at Cycling Weekly are football fans way from our jobs. I can exclusively reveal that three of our four-strong news team have seen their football teams achieve promotion - Southampton and Oxford United, if you're interested - so we have all had success at Wembley this season.

Happily, then, this past week has been a real crossover episode (Mr Peanutbutter x Bojack Horseman style) as former professional cyclist Rick Zabel travelled to Wembley by bike from Germany to watch his team, Borussia Dortmund, in the Champions League final. Meanwhile, Champions League winner Eden Hazard got on a bike, cycling up Mont Ventoux with Intermarché-Wanty, proving that there is life post-football for the Belgian.

Zabel's team, unlike Southampton or Oxford, did not taste success at Wembley, but it was still some top-drawer content (inevitably, it was a partnership with EA Sports). Who could not be overjoyed to see the German excited about cycling through Germany, Belgium, France and the UK just to end up in north London. What a dream.

Mads Pedersen takes ice baths with a rubber duck, for some reason, and CW's very own Chris Marshall-Bell went rather off-road at the top of the Cime de la Bonette. Enjoy!

1. I suppose this is one way to celebrate taking the fastest time, although there is rather too much Alpecin branding on show for a rival team, surely

2. If you've just won a stage of the Dauphiné, why wouldn't you take your trophy wherever you go. Even to the toilet.

3. Rick Zabel's journey across Europe was a real highlight for me. His enthusiasm for the trip to Wembley was infectious, even if I felt a bit sorry for his non-ex professional cyclist friend. The best bits are his love of a full English breakfast, the fact they got trains twice, and how much he was behind Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Fellow cycling football fans, take note.

4. Look, I don't work for Garmin, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how they're supposed to be used. Surely there are enough to go round, anyway.

5. Josh Tarling, one of the fastest bike riders in the world, still has to use the child's bed when sharing a room with Laurens De Plus. Harsh.

6. Eden Hazard, in full Intermarché-Wanty kit, climbing Mont Ventoux. It's great. That said, he's an ex-pro footballer, surely he could get a better helmet/glasses combo than that. Sorry Eden, though. This is great.

7. "I would be the first to criticise" - Patrick Lefevere, there, with some self-awareness. 

8. The rumour is, Chris didn't even do this for a feature he's working on, he's just a madman who thinks you should cycle in the snow. That's what people from Hartlepool are like.

9. He looks so happy in that ice bath, with his rubber ducky. Is it his? Does everyone on the team have their own one? So many questions.

10. And finally, who can blame Lilian Calmejane for trying to make the Tour de Suisse a bit easier. It's what I'd do.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.

Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.