This Friday afternoon, just after 4pm local time, the Tour de France will pass through a small town named Mélisey. It’s a typical French place, home to around 1,600 people, with old stone buildings, a post office and a couple of boulangeries. There’ll be bunting and fans decked in polka dots, as there always is. But there’s also something special about Mélisey.
On a farm within the commune’s hedgerows, one of France’s most beloved cycling sons wakes up each day at around 6am to tend to his animals. He feeds the sheep, goats and highland cows, and some nights has to head out in the early hours to help with births.
