It’s been an amazing week of racing. A well-fought Paris-Nice, an astonishing Tirreno-Adriatico … what’s not to love? And of course we’ve been fishing in the Twitterstream to land the best stories of the week.
Sea-to-sea victories
They’re vying for Neptune’s Trident and that can only mean some BADASS riding! At the time of writing, we have no idea who will win Tirreno-Adriatico, but we do know who the star has been.
It was LouLou v GVA in stage 2
Then it was LouLou v All The Sprinters in stage 6. Let’s all say it together … Milan-SanRemo …
Deceuninck tricks all their rivals and wins the sprint with…Julian Alaphilippe.
Genius tactics and brutal power was the key. Alaphilippe is ready for any scenario in Sanremo. Incredible class.
#tirrenoadriatico pic.twitter.com/ZcpNYoJkFY
— Mihai Cazacu (@faustocoppi60) March 18, 2019
Genius tactics and brutal power was the key. Alaphilippe is ready for any scenario in Sanremo. Incredible class. 
I love the woman who shouts ‘LouLOU!!!!!’
Chapeau, #TheWolfpack
#TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/SB1I9k6XyY
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 18, 2019
Alaphilippe was on the sprinter's train duties and ended up winning the stage. It reminds me of Greipel leading Cavendish while at HTC and ending up crossing the line first (Giro?)#TirrenoAdriatico
— Fabrizio
(@fabrizioviani) March 18, 2019
(@fabrizioviani) Loulou, you crack us up
pic.twitter.com/zeiGdqFNqC
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 18, 2019
QuickStep’s usual sprinter – Vivz – did win stage 3
Four years since the last Italian stage win at #TirrenoAdriatico… And then this guy came
pic.twitter.com/qCFGkeWjU3
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 15, 2019
Alexey Lutsenko has added to Astana’s astonishing start to the season by winning stage 4 after two crashes and an adrenaline-fuelled finish
Stage win for Alexey Lutsenko in @TirrenAdriatico, despite two crashes during solo attack!
"I didn't thought about losing the race, I still believed in a stage win"
Full #TirrenoAdriatico report: https://t.co/5ezodsrPG9.
@GettySport pic.twitter.com/rGJx4r9CAj
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) March 16, 2019
Stage win for Alexey Lutsenko in 
"I didn't thought about losing the race, I still believed in a stage win"
After his heroics yesterday @AstanaTeam's @AlexeyLutsenko3 proudly wears the Maglia Verde today at @TirrenAdriatico. It appears @BORAhansgrohe's @gatto_oscar thinks it suits him well
pic.twitter.com/bI9FeJqAWq
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) March 17, 2019
Birdsong also got into the act. Out of the six stages (so far) in TA, QuickStep and Astana have won five of them. The only exception is the very first stage, where Mitchelton Scott took the TTT. Will Adam Yates hold his own against nearest rival Primoz Roglic in the final ITT for the team to top and tail the race?
Victory!!
What a ride by @jakob_fuglsang!#TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/xtMhQqkXCl
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) March 17, 2019
Victory!!You all know how much Midge loves her Danes …
Current sitch chez moi
pic.twitter.com/5zxY6dwbyN
— midge (@pariswheels) March 17, 2019
He might not have taken a stage, but we can’t have a BADASS story without including Daniel Oss.
REPORT: @Daniel87Oss fights it out in the break as @TirrenAdriatico pulls no punches on punishing stage 5 climbs. Read more here: https://t.co/IGXR3kze2S
BettiniPhoto pic.twitter.com/HByTMxst91
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) March 17, 2019
BettiniPhoto Sky make it six out of eight
It was Paris-Nice – and the Colombians made their presence known, taking the top and second step of the final podium.
Classement final #ParisNice 2019
Overall classification #ParisNice 2019
@Eganbernal
@NairoQuinCo
@kwiato
La Colombie et la jeunesse
au pouvoir !
Colombia and Youth
at the top! pic.twitter.com/KnWV1ryc5D
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 17, 2019
Classement final 
au pouvoir ! And Team Sky win P-N six times with five different riders. Only Richie Porte has won it twice for Sky – hmmm, wonder what happened to him …
Team Sky wins #ParisNice for the 6th time in 8 years, with 5 different riders
2012: Wiggins
2013: Porte
2015: Porte
2016: Thomas
2017: Henao
2019: Bernal— Neal Rogers (@nealrogers) March 17, 2019
Michal Kwiatkowski seemed to really want this race but, as ever, he played the perfect teammate for Egan Bernal
3 seconds here, 2 seconds there… Call it Kwiato’s small savings plan
Still a long way to make it really Nice.@ParisNice @TeamSky
@GettyImages pic.twitter.com/D3l51KkXbb
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) March 13, 2019
Still a long way to make it really Nice.But P-N was not without its own BADASS riding. There was some serious echelon action in the early stages of Paris-Nice – exciting absolutely everyone! Sky and QuickStep (natch) ruled the road when the wind blew.
Day by day, step by step. Tell you what, it’s good to have Master Luke on your side
@LukeRowe1990 @TeamSky #teamwork
@ParisNice pic.twitter.com/EhFj13p58v
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) March 12, 2019
And BADASS breakaway rider, Thomas De Gendt, earned Top Pox after some painful climbing.
The Gruppetto
The suspense while in the hot seat(s) for the TTT in Tirreno-Adriatico. Tony Martin definitely does not look happy. (I’d only just got used to Tony in the Katusha kit. Now I have to recalibrate again …)
#TirrenoAdriatico
That tension!
Great ride boysPhotos @BramBerkien pic.twitter.com/YRnoYDJrCw
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) March 13, 2019
The best thing about a hotel is slouching around in a fluffy robe. That and room service. Oh, and having a chocolate put on your pillow. Then there’s all the miniature bath products. I do love a good hotel.
Loving this cover!
And now a few words from our sponsors.
Shhhh, LouLou’s sleeping …
Poor Matti is encased in pulsating trousers
Sponsorship makes strange bedfellows, don’t you think?
The mystery that is Katusha
He might be quiet on the victory front, but Peter Sagan is always there for the fans. I still can’t quite get over seeing him a jersey other than the rainbows …
There's no person – or animal – @BORAhansgrohe's @petosagan isn't willing to have his photo taken with
#TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/j3A1ddirgN
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) March 14, 2019
Dreams die hard for everyone …
Even the dreams of being supermodels
Good job we can ride bikes because we’re shit models
https://t.co/nxG5fRALMU
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) March 17, 2019
I love this picture.
My main source of energy? These two boys!
pic.twitter.com/772eD1uiOF
— PHILIPPE GILBERT (@PhilippeGilbert) March 16, 2019
The 2020 Tour de France is going to be one firecracker of a start!
Actually, not Hamlet, but a French detective taunting us with the evidence … ‘Vous pouvez avouer maintenant‘
A long-winded way to say, what’s with the orange?
A VeloVoices favourite … Larry on the Cote d’Azur
The last word
https://twitter.com/MobyDickatSea/status/1107353680146247680