We have not met Anya yet; all we know is that she has caused Jules a headache and Jesper a heartache. She’s handsome; tall and milk-blonde and we’d like to dislike her. But she looks lost, displaced; dressed so tidily in shirt and skirt and shoes all cream. Moreover, she feels lost. She has always felt out of place, here on Planet Tour, but she has never craved anything different. Her marriage has been as tough for her as it has for Jesper. The man she loves undoubtedly loves her but their requirements and commitments differ fundamentally. She wants children and a return to Holland. She is lonely and feels barren in her current situation, in France, with a husband she sees so sporadically. Jesper knows that he defines himself primarily by his ability to race a bike. He has to live in France. He races for the greatest team in the world. Anya is a woman turning thirty in a no-win situation. And she’s wearing stupid Mickey Mouse ears when she’s feeling deeply emotional on a morning she knows is to be hugely significant.

Stefano Sassetta had no need for fancy dress. Colourful enough in his regular Zucca MV gear, he was positively dazzling strutting around in his maillot vert with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips, thighs glistening with embrocation. The carry of his head, the brace of his shoulders, the draw of his chest, the meticulous arrangement of the bulges in his shorts, all proclaimed overflowing pride in his triumph. The ensemble delighted the crowds, amused the journalists and was an absolute treat for the photographers. The pictures taken of Stefano that day would soon adorn the walls of most Italian homes; from teenage cycling fans, to rampant women of all ages, to the entire gay population.

Sassetta wanted to be a living legend, and had carefully and successfully honed his image for posterity. The very look of him both excused and justified his sometimes questionable behaviour. In the village that morning, he ensured that he swaggered past Jesper Lomers at opportune times when the sun broke through the clouds and caught his jersey at its most resplendently verdant. Such a highly visible and antagonistic gesture brought him fame and notoriety and it was irrelevant that in fact he looked far more ridiculous than Jesper did in Mickey Mouse ears.

Jesper, however, hardly clocked Stefano’s presence; the unexpected sight of his wife had him transfixed. The Dutch riders with whom he had been sitting and chatting quite affably forgave him his sudden silence and abrupt departure.

‘Hullo, Jesper,’ said Anya after they had stood very close and stared silently for a few moments.

‘Great ears,’ said Jesper, giving her Mickey Mouse headpiece a gentle flick.

‘Yours too,’ Anya said politely before scrutinizing some fascinating aspect of her footwear.

‘I’m sorry that you don’t see me in the maillot vert,’ said Jesper, gravely apologetic.

‘I am sorry for you that you have it no longer,’ Anya said honestly.