Jens Voigt has joined the Twitter community (thejensie) and he has quickly accumulated a large number of followers. Voigt finally gave in to the 'pressure' put on him from within the Leopard-Trek team. Always having a witty comment or two, Voigt's additional communication device will surely please his many fans.
Why did Voigt join the twitter community this late in the game? "You know, there's nothing more convincing than a cool barrel of a gun on your head," he said on his Leopard-Trek team's website. "What can I say? Of course I had to agree." It was a typical funny-style Voigt answer to an innocent question. "No, no, in all seriousness, I decided to give it a try."
There had been some subtle pressure. "Stuey [Stuart O'Grady] was already tweeting for many days that the team would get me on here. He would say 'Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow.'" Once Voigt stopped pedaling for a while, the team had won him over. "Finally on the rest day, we said we'd do it."
It was a sure bet that many would sign up, but his immediate success was overwhelming to him. His second tweet commented on it. "omg this goes fast!!!!!already 1500 followers,hope i can live up to everybodys expectations." Soon, he had to revise the stats and in the interview on his team's site, he commented on the larger numbers. "It's almost spooky, you know. There are 30,000 followers [28,900 presently] in fifteen hours."
In the past, Voigt has had a lead role in the Cyclistes Professionels Associés (CPA), an organization to represent the riders. He will draw from this experience to make reasonable posts. "It's a great chance to have direct contact with your fans, but it can also turn into a very sharp sword to do some harm if it is used as an aggressive weapon. I see great possibility here but with it comes great responsibility."
For those with Voigt as the ever-aggressive super attacker in their head, he came across as almost human. "and just to let you know, i actually did really enjoy my rest day, one day without pain and stress, and i am ready for the next stage!!!" The latter sentence may not sit well with his rivals, who fear Voigt's attacks. They can only be comforted by the fact that Voigt has achieved everything he could in the Tour and this year plays mostly a domestique role for the Schleck brothers.
Voigt's talents for languages comes in handy, as he tweets in English, which means he can reach more people. He is also fluent in French, as his international career kickstarted with the French GAN/Crédit Agricole teams. He spent six years in Germany's neighboring country.