Olavs heart rate went off again just thinking about the fact that he also had to get up the stage to be announced.

He took a deep breath and stared at the asphalt under his feet. With every breath the view in front of his eyes became more and more blurred. His stomach started to feel sick.

What if there was another disastrous crash in the bunch this year?

What if there was nothing he could do but watch everyone in front of him fall like dominoes?

And why did he remember this detail just now?

Olav touched his head.

No, he would certainly not throw up now. Not so shortly before the performance. Maybe after it, but not now.

"Here. Take this." Someone offered him a bottle of water.

He tried to grab it with trembling hands, but it took him several attempts. When he finally opened the screw cap and raised his eyes, his heart almost stopped.

"You?"

Red and black outfit with white accents, an H for "HELVETIA" on the chest and blue eyes as clear as a Swiss mountain lake. Or a Korean lake, or...

"Me?" The other one smiled. Black hair with red tips and long eyelashes.

Yeah, that was definitely one of the four guys on the shortlist for his dream butt.

Olav took a sip from the water bottle and choked instantly.

"Don't drink too fast. You can still keep it slow for now."

What was his name again? Kim, right?

First or last name?

Last name, right? Or his first name?

"Kim Lutz-Park. You remember last year? You snatched the lead from me on two stages. It was disastrous!"

Disastrous! If anyone here was disastrous, it was Olav himself. 

If he wasn't careful enough, the water would start to spill and leave embarrassing stains of water on his clothes.

"I," he found his voice again, "have no intention of letting you win this year, Kim!"

Did that sound cool enough? It better be.

That soft smile again. "I'm looking forward to it."

The cheers became louder. The time had come to go up on stage.

"Uh..." Olav held up the water bottle and looked around aimlessly. Morten behind him rolled his eyes again, saying "hurry up!" with his look only.

Kim laughed amused. "All right, now go up! I hope it helped at least a tiny bit?" He took back the water bottle. Olav nodded silently and pushed his bike up the ramp.

Immediately the already unpleasant temperature increased further. The stage was perfectly lit and grilled team Viking Spades additionally, making them look especially attractive for the TV cameras.

"The proud Vikings of the North! Team Viking Spades! Let's give them a round applause!"

Olav could feel the ground trembling beneath his feet. Air horns and whistles shrilled. Somewhere in the back of the crowd, a group of men wearing plastic viking helmets started to beat big drums. And if this wasn't embarrassing and overwhelming enough, the audience chanted his name.

"OLAV! OLAV! OLAV!"

Help! Now he really felt like throwing up!

He didn't even understand what the presenter was saying anymore and answered only with a nod and a short "yes" to every question he was asked.

A couple of minutes later it was already over and they were finally allowed to leave the stage.

Olav's shoulders became relaxed. Now the serious part was about to start: warming up and waiting for their turn in the individual time trial.

"Well, let's go and throw ourselves into our full body condoms," Matti joked while they pushed their bikes back to the team bus. "I'm really excited. My first Tour. I hope I won't embarrass you."

And even if he disgraced himself, the Finnish girls would still worship him.

"Just don't get distracted. You've trained in the wind channel so many times and remember the stage so well. You are basically unable to fail. For today's time trial the whole route is almost straight ahead, just clear your head and you'll be fine."

Wow, Olav, you really said some encouraging and grown-up words! If only you could encourage yourself that well too!

"You're still young, but you definitely have the knack..."

"Disc brakes? Are you serious?" A suspicious voice with a foreign accent interrupted him. "I never thought the comeback of the tough Viking Olav Olsen would be so tame!"

Did someone just try to insult him?

Olav pursed his lips and looked at his opponent. For the second time on that day, his heart almost stopped.

"Nobuhiko..." - "Honda, that's me!"

Olav could hardly believe his eyes. It wasn't even lunchtime and he was already running across butt number two, which he almost didn't recognize.

"Uh, nice hair!" He tried to initiate some small talk, but the Japanese brushed him off. "Thank you very much, but ... Disc brakes! I didn't know you were such a chickenshit."

Disc brakes were still a new thing in professional cycling in 2017 and there were many cyclist who didn't like them because of their appearance.

While on common models the brake pads laid on the rims of the wheel, with disc brakes the braking effect was generated in the middle of the wheel, which led to a more stable braking behaviour.

Olav raised an eyebrow. Was this guy looking for a fight?

But he had to admit, with his new hairstyle, an undercut with a shaved yellow dyed flash, Nobuhiko finally looked different from his teammates, who gave Olav a hard time in telling them apart.

I wonder if the black-haired Startory Jokers thought the same about the blond to brunette Viking Spades?

"Disc brakes are good and reliable," Olav explained in English slowly. "They brake perfectly, especially on wet roads. And yes, if you want to put it that way, I'm a chickenshit because in the rain last year I hit the floor pretty hard!"

Nobuhiko hissed. "Let's see whose brakes work better tomorrow. If we need them at all. In any case, I have no intention to draw in my horns before the finish line tomorrow. Shitsurei shimasu!" (Excuse me, please!)

When the Japanese in the yellow and black team gear pushed his bike past him, he heard his team mates say something with a taunting voice. But Olav did not understand a single word of Japanese and could therefore only shrug his shoulders.

So that guy was Nobuhiko Honda? What a fierce personality! But didn't everyone say that Japanese people were nice, reserved and always friendly! But this was probably as untrue as Olav being a Danish national hero.