It's July 10, 1997, and an unknown Frenchman is about to ride himself into folklore at the Tour de France.
Cedric Vasseur, a young domestique is racing just his second Tour as part of the Gan team. The French outfit are an eclectic mix of nationalities with Roger Legeay at the helm.
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Gan start the race with a bang as British rider Chris Boardman wins the prologue in Rouen and as the race heads south-west through Brittany, the rest of the team begin to look for more opportunities in the race.
They lose the maillot jaune with Mario Cipollini and the bunch sprinters deciding the next few stages, but on stage 5 from Chantonnay to La Chatre, Vasseur sees his chance and claims not just a surprise stage win but the maillot jaune to become a French hero.
Vausser's story is everything to embrace and love about the Tour de France – a tale of a young French rider fighting both the odds and the peloton before eventually claiming glory in front of an adoring public.
Yet Vasseur's tale is as much about how he lost the yellow jersey as how he won it. The Gan rider held the race lead all the way until the first mountain with everyone, even the French commentators expecting him to lose it on the brutally tough stage 9 from Pau to Loundenville.
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