Pole Rat

**The Bad Luck of Team Fromage**is the twenty-third episode of the Geronimo Stilton cartoon's normal broadcast.

## Synopsis

The Stiltons find themselves in the middle of a sabotage chain when Geronimo's friend Jacque Fromage suffers mishap after mishap while participating in the Tour de Mouse bike race.

## Plot

(intro scene)

The Tour de Mouse bike race is going on, and Geronimo is panting in his runs behind Benjamin, who prompts him to hurry to the starting line. Trap is also in accompaniment, primarily for the cotton candy. Both Geronimo and Benjamin make it to a good spot while the former spots a racer he recognizes as a friend of his named Jacque Fromage, though no sooner had they saw him his handlebars came loose, causing him to crash and fly off his bike. Geronimo and Benjamin give chase, and swipe a cotton candy cart that Trap is ordering from to catch Jacque when he lands. As Geronimo and Benjamin help and question Jacque, Trap races over to grab some cotton candy, which is promptly knocked over by Jacque. Horrified, Trap cradles it and mourns it's fate.

(the main article)

As Jacque and Benjamin throw his trashed bike into his crew van, the former gripes about his recent string of mishaps, revealing to Geronimo that his pit crew quit due to frustrations of his mishaps. At that moment, a racer named Devon Blue comes up with his crew chief, and both start poking fun and Jacque's expense. To Geronimo's surprise, Sally Ratmousen chooses shows up, revealing that The Daily Rat is sponsoring Devon Blue. Poking more fun at Jacque, Sally springs a frustrated Geronimo to retaliate by having the Rodent's Gazette sponsor Jacque, though he puzzles on what he could do to help.

Later, the three hang up Jacque's crashed bike, and while Trap goes off snacking, Geronimo and Benjamin examine the damaged bikes, the former finding one of the bikes has had it's brake wire cut. Now knowing that Jacque was sabotaged, Geronimo and Benjamin set off interviewing potential suspects, though once again, Trap wanders off towards a snack booth.

Interviewing Freddy Fetta yielded no results when he realizes what they are implying, and further interviews with Stan Provolone and other racers prove to be equally pointless. Going back to the bikes, they opt to search for more hints of sabotage while Trap lugs a large bag of caramel popcorn. While Geronimo and Benjamin investigate the bikes, a mysterious rodent releases the brakes on Jacque's van, sending the two on a runaway course towards the lake. Fortunately for them, Jacque witnesses their runaway and manages to re-engage the brakes on his van, though in the end, both Geronimo and Benjamin plunge into the lake, Geronimo ends up injuring Jacque's hand, and he winds up hurting himself more when he lands on the wreckage of his past bikes.

As Geronimo apologizes for Jacque's injuries, the disabled racer bemoans his situation, which worsens when Sally shows up and reports it. Although Sally thinks of it as the group dropping out, Geronimo realizes that anyone from Jacque's group could race. Although Geronimo thought that G=Jacque would be making him race, Benjamin reveals that he called for another mouse to race in the Tour de Mouse. Although they mistake the rider to be Trap, who ends up having brain freeze, Geronimo ultimately finds out Benjamin was referring to Thea. This news excites Jacque, who is very pleased that Team Fromage is back in the race.

At the starting line, a concerned Geronimo check with Thea on her supplies, though as Thea states that she needs Jacque to inspect her bike, Jacque shows up reporting his tool bag disappeared. The race eventually starts, though Geronimo ends up inhaling some of the dust. As the racers speed though New Mouse City, a mysterious van starts up as soon as the race past it, and begins pursuing the group. Thea ends up as the first to fall victim, as a mysterious figure strikes her water bottle as she goes for a drink. He later tries to trap Thea in a manhole, but she manages to jump it in a spectacular fashion. As the saboteur closes the manhole, Thea races ahead of the other racers. Of them, Freddy Fetta ends up as the saboteur's next victim, his handlebars falling off and causing him to crash into a clothing store. He ends up coming out in a peculiar dress code, and as Trap covers it, Geronimo and Benjamin set off after the saboteur.

As the race continues, the participants race through the port, though while most of the racers make it through unscathed, the saboteur dumps out an oil slick that takes out a hapless one, causing him to crash into a mooring post and send him flying into a fishing boat's fresh catch. The racers then pass an abandoned cheese factory, of which a large cheese wheel falls off and begins rolling after them. As the racers go by, two of them stop at a crosswalk, the big wheel of cheese taking them out, all while the saboteur examines his handiwork. Geronimo and Benjamin patrol the streets in the meanwhile, catching sight of the giant cheese wheel as it rolls through town. Continuing to follow the racers, Geronimo and Benjamin swerve to avoid a cow in the streets. Tracking them to a bridge, it raises after Devon crosses, with Thea and Stan Provolone managing to jump it. The other racers aren't as lucky, and plunge into the canal. Trap then announces he's out of chips, before he switches to pretzels soon after.

As Geronimo and Benjamin patrol the racecourse, they find Devon Blue's van parked in a peculiar spot far from the race, stopping to investigate as Trap discovers the current situation of the racers. While investigating, Geronimo and Benjamin find Jacque's tool kit in Devon's van, but as they draw conclusions, the two get locked in, while the van drives away with them inside. Realizing that Devon couldn't be driving if he was in the race, Geronimo and Benjamin find his crew chief Anders in the driver's seat, laughing maniacally as he takes his captives away.

The racers pass and junkyard on the final lap of the race, but the magnetic crane takes out Stan Provolone, leaving Devon and Thea to finish the race. Geronimo and Benjamin soon find the van has stopped, and to their horror, they find the reason why: Anders is cutting down and old water tower, intending to take Thea out of the race and give Devon a clear victory. By the time Geronimo bust the door open with a crowbar, Anders had just begun cutting another of the water tower's legs. Determined not to let him sabotage the race, Geronimo takes the wheel of Devon's van, racing towards the water tower. This scares Anders into running towards a dumpster, which is dumped into a garbage truck for further insult. Geronimo eventually succeeds in driving Devon's van under the falling water tower, saving Thea from getting taken out.

As the remaining racers draw closer to the finish line, Geronimo finds Benjamin running towards him, both running towards the finish line to see the winner. Thea eventually wins, and as she holds the trophy, Devon comes up... and shakes her hand to congratulate her. Sally then runs up outraged, evidently not pleased with the sportsmanship Devon is showing. Eventually, she almost exposes herself, and when Geronimo reveals that Anders was the saboteur, Devon expresses outrage. When Geronimo points out Sally hired hi to do so, the Daily Rat journalist angrily denies it, only for Anders to call her for help as she does so. Sally ends up supporting Geronimo's claims when she fires him, and as the garbage truck with Anders rolls by, Sally nervously walks out, her schemes fully exposed to all witnesses.

As Geronimo wraps up his report, he finds Trap still announcing with his microphone. Annoyed by this, Geronimo demands that Trap hands the microphone over, and ends up chasing him when he refuses.

## Notes

* This is one of the few episodes where the adventure happens in the city.
* The Tour de Mouse is a spoof of the Tour de France bike race.
* When the giant cheese wheel rolls away, it recalls the boulder from *Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark*.

## Errors

* Anders was only seen cutting two of the water tower's legs, though when the tower falls, all four legs have been cut.
* Many of the bikes are inconsistently colored.
* One of the police officers sports a clothespin on his nose in Geronimo's footage, but as he opens the dumpster lid, it vanishes.

## Order

1. Stop Acting Around
2. Attack of the Killer Whale
3. Cheese Connection
4. Starring Geronimo
5. **The Bad Luck of Team Fromage**
6. The Great Jellybean Adventure
7. The Creepy Cowboy of the Cactus Gulch
8. The Legend of Big Toes
9. The Incredible Shrinking Stiltons
10. **Pole Rat**
11. Magic Mice