Blazin' Saddles: Dave Brailsford and Michele Scarponi tipped for Oscars

Before the Tour Down Under it was proving a slow start to the season, the stand-out points of interest being Pierre Rolland's new nickname (Tequila, apparently) and the will-he-won't-he surrounding Tyler Farrar's long locks (in the end he opted for a bun).

But then Italian veteran Michele Scarponi went for a training ride around his home town of Filottrano in Italy's Marche region – and the result was something you'd expect from the late Marco Pantani himself.

Riding along, minding his own business, Scarponi was joined by an old feathered friend – a squawking accessory not even seen on Pantani's shoulders during his piratical pomp.

Sporting matching Astana blue-and-yellow team colours, Frankie, the female macaw perched on Scarponi's shoulder, is something of a local celebrity and joined the 2011 Giro d'Italia winner for long enough for him to shoot a little video.

The clip ends after Scarponi playfully chastises Frankie for pecking at his helmet – a sentence no-one ever expected to read or write.

Funnily enough, it was not the first time Scarponi was accompanied by Frankie on a training ride: the veteran Italian posted the following picture last February, prompting team-mate Andrea Guardini to comment, "These kinds of things only ever happen to you, Michele".

Meanwhile, over in Wales, Sir Dave Brailsford was doing his best to prove that the words "Welsh soap" are not an oxymoron.

First it was Wiggo on the Archers and now it's Sir Dave on Pobol y Cwm – Wales's answer to Emmerdale, a daily BBC Welsh-language TV show that's run even longer than EastEnders (just replace Walford with the fictional village of Cwmderi and Cockney for chesty consonants).

Well, last Friday's episode ratcheted up the excitement levels in the village when the Team Sky and British Cycling guru came to open Awyr Iach (Fresh Air), a new leisure equipment store.

Besides a rather surreal moment when he's mistaken for some other bald chap called Daniel Jenkins, the most remarkable thing about Sir Dave's cameo is his flawless Welsh.

You see, although he was born in Derbyshire, Brailsford was brought up in Deiniolen, near Caernarfon, where he learnt the lingo before moving to France as an amateur.

Speaking to some of the soap's residents on arrival, Brailsford (apparently) says: "This village reminds me of Deiniolen where I was brought up. A down-to-earth, honest, close-knit community with people that look out for one another."

He is then introduced as a "remarkable person" who has "coached some of the world's most famous cyclists – Wiggins, Froome, Geraint Thomas, Becky James. He's a person who's made cycling ever so popular. Please give a warm welcome to Sir David Brailsford."

For those of you who missed Sir Dave's acting tour de force, you can still see him working the magic on the BBC iPlayer – just click on the link in the tweet below.

Perhaps worried that Sir Dave was stealing a march on the Best Foreign Language and Best Comedy Performance awards at next month's Oscars, Scarponi upped the ante accordingly, releasing a second parrot clip that went to lengths to prove just how similar pets can be to their owners.

The clip shows both Frankie and Michele even more animated than during their first appearance on the silver screen. In fact, you could say it was a case of Rio 2 all over again...

Scarponi's array of comedy noises and rubbery face contortions are enough to give Adam Sandler a run for his money, proof that when the 36-year-old finally hangs up his cycling shoes it may well be a case of, well, Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Of course, we should perhaps wait until the end of the season to see just how much his final year in the pro peloton takes it out on Scarponi.

But it seems that, for now, Scarponi has found his calling. It's always said that veterans can become father figures to young riders on their teams – and impressionable Frankie has clearly found a similar bond with her new master.

Alessandro Petacchi may soon no longer be the only former rider with a pet parrot at home. In any event, rumours abound that Scarponi's fellow pros have got all jealous about his new companion.