New Twitter policy for Omega Pharma-QuickStep riders

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With social media becoming more and more ubiquitous in sport and the wider world, Omega Pharma-QuickStep sporting director Brian Holm has moved to impose some level of control on the way his riders use Twitter and Facebook.

The 49-year-old Dane has banned his riders from using their Twitter accounts within an hour of finishing races, when emotions can be running high, and logic and reason can go out of the window. It brings a new slant on the phrase 'think before you speak', and is one that Tom Boonen and his teammates will have to follow.

"The only rule we have on our team is that they do not send Twitter messages out before an hour after the finish," he told ekstrabladet.dk.

"I think they just need to get their rawest emotion out of their minds after a sprint. Otherwise they get might write something they regret. I think you just have to think twice before sending a Twitter message that might bother someone."

Holm stated that he doesn't use social media sites himself, but that if used properly they can be good for the sport. Anything that adds colour and debate, within reason, can only be a good thing in his opinion.

"It creates some debate, and personally I think it's okay when the riders get annoyed with each other a little," he said. "I cannot stand it when no one has an opinion about things. It's the last thing I want. I like people who dare. You should have your say about things.

"I especially like what Mark Cavendish has to say. He comes up with some venom, and people love it or hate it. And it's not anything that moves his focus from the racing."