Stage one, starting and ending in Lille.
It is windy.
Terence is watching the start.
There goes Vello with David and a weird guy he doesn't remember.
That's Denis Diderot, says Belle. Give them a wave.
Terence waves at Team Philosophe.
A good omen, says Diderot to Vello.
We could do with a good omen, says Vello.
Nonsense, says David. We just need to focus.
That too, says Vello. Let's focus our efforts on remaining at the back of the peloton.
Agreed, says David.
They slow down a bit, in order to focus.
Terence keeps waving.
Jasper Philipsen flashes by.
And now here come Sweezus, Arthur and Gaius, keeping together.
Terence waves.
Only Gaius waves back.
A parrot flies over.
Terence waves down the parrot.
The parrot turns, descends, and lands on Terence's shoulder.
What? asks the parrot. I'm supposed to be watching the race.
Me too, says Terence. I'm the musette guy.
So why aren't you up at the feed station? asks the parrot.
Because I'm watching the start, says Terence.
Better get a move on, says the parrot.
Wait, says Terence. Do you know Roo-kai?
No, says the parrot.
The parrot flies off, to catch up with the peloton.
Maybe it wasn't a parrot.
Come on, says Belle. Time to move up to the feed station. Got your musettes?
Yes, says Terence,
Meanwhile Diderot is explaining to Vello and David that good omens are not necessarily supernatural.
And Ben Thomas is gaining a point.
And several riders are crashing.
But no one we know.
Terence and Belle speed to the feed station on a scooter.
The wind has split the peloton into echelons.
This is bad, says Belle.
Do you think that was a parrot? asks Terence.
No, says Belle. It looked like a common red warbler.
No wonder, says Terence.
They pass Team Philosophe and Team Condor.
A smell wafts back to Team Condor
Smell that? says Sweezus.
Yes, says Arthur. It smelled like moules frites.
Moules frites will be difficult to eat on a bicycle, says Gaius.
You're not wrong, says Sweezus.
But he hopes that it will be moules frites.
And it is. At the feeding station, Terence hands him a musette filled with moules frites.
Arthur and Gaius get the same. So do Vello, David and Denis Diderot.
It slows them down a bit, because you have to eat moules frites a special way.
Which is, eat the first one and then use the empty shell as a pincer, to extract the subsequent moules.
But enough of this food talk.
Fast forward to the finish.
It's a bunch sprint.
Jasper Philipsen zooms out at the last minute, just beating Binian Girmay.
Jasper remembers the wave he got earlier, from a young cement fan.
That was a good omen.
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