Lenny Martinez had a tough week, but secured stage win in the end: "I actually wanted to go for the GC"
CyclingMonday, 16 June 2025 at 09:08
Despite a 'mediocre' week, Lenny Martinez finished the Critérium du Dauphiné well. The rider from Bahrain Victorious crossed the finish line solo in the eighth and final stage of the French stage race, which is considered the ultimate warm-up for the upcoming Tour de France.
The Frenchman kept Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) 34 seconds behind him. The two rivals finished second and third and came dangerously close to Martinez in the final stage. Nevertheless, Martinez stayed ahead after a day in the early breakaway.
"I definitely wasn't good yesterday," Martinez said in the flash interview after the race. "Today, I felt better. The team told me beforehand: never give up. But I actually felt pretty good. It was perfect that van der Poel attacked so early."
Martinez followed Mathieu van der Poel's attack (Alpecin-Deceuninck), which put the rider in the early breakaway. "It was quiet in the peloton, but at a certain point, you know you have the number one and two riders behind you. Then, I was pretty scared. It would have been annoying if they had caught me, but in the last kilometer, I knew I would make it."
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Not the best week for Martinez, who is also hoping for stage wins at the Tour de France
Martinez's week in the French stage race was not what the rider had hoped for. A twentieth place in stage six was the best result for the 21-year-old. "Winning the stage wasn't the goal because I actually wanted to go for the GC. It wasn't a great week for me until this stage. We can be proud of that."
Martinez is also hoping for success in the upcoming Tour de France. "In the Tour, I'll also try to win a stage and get a good GC."
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Latest Comments
- Maybe I was a bit disrespectful to Heiden. What he did was unique and exceptional but he wasn't the only one who combined those distances, nowadays it is just not possible and nobody competes in both distances. The same is true for cycling with for example the combination of Roubaix and de Tour de France. In Merckx era there were more riders who managed a top10 in both races than currently.Joostmehrtens19-06-2025
- Two old men shouting at pigeons in the park…JonS16-06-2025
- Out of touch old men hankering after their youth through rose tinted spectacles, their arrogance almost outshines their irrelevance. Turn the volume down, this modern stuff just isn't music like we used to sing...johnny20whales16-06-2025
- In talking speed skating, the days when Heiden did that, nobody else did that. And Eddy couldn't do the equivalent of the bike. His 200 on the velodrome was good, but not world competitive for gold. Heiden was in his own world on the ice, moreso than Eddy if we pretend Eric didn't have a very short career on the ice.Veganpotter16-06-2025
- They wouldn't have dropped HIM so easily.... the GOAT. They would have dropped the rest from that era easily thoughVeganpotter16-06-2025
- Merckx was able to win in a break away on a flat (sprinters) stage, what do you mean they did not drop that easily in his time. Vlaeminck won in the mountains and the classics, but now you need to specialise. The days that a Eric Heiden could win the sprint and the 10k and everything in between are long gone and cycljng is no differentJoostmehrtens16-06-2025
- Carsapaz and Del torro were not capable of chasing Yates. They paused and looked at each other because they didn't have it in them. Yates had kept his powder dry waiting for this stage and demolished both of them. They lost Yates won. Your second guessing is utter nonsense., if either felt they could close Yates down they would have , just like they did countless times for other riders. They blew up , Yates excelled.Uphillbilly05-06-2025
- Carapaz is full of it. He is absolutely irrelevant after a rant at del Toro. Isaac had no obligations to do anything for Carapaz. It should remind one of the saying that goes lke this: "If I jump off the bridge, are you going to jump too?" If Caapaz wanted to win the Giro he should have chased Yates with or without Isaac. And if del Toro could follow, then so be it. But it was Carapaz's choice to slow down and stare at Isaac. Isaac was on the radio at times and you can bet he was being told by the Team car to do just what he was doing. Did I like that he didn't set out after Yates himself, NO. But the 21 year old was probably being instructed to do what he did, otherwise you can bet we would have heard from UAE mgmt. that Isaac chose to ignore their orders. But what we did hear was they were happy with his result. Which I think was a terrible betrayal of their young rider, who I think was capable of more than that penultimate stage showed. The Giro finished on a truly sour note as far as I'm concerned, because it was not "raced" The most crucial stage of the whole 21 stage race was simply given away, playing games with the unwritten rules of bicycle racing. "Leaders jerseys responsibility" and all that nonsense. Just RACE! It was disgraceful.
reemmo004-06-2025 - Well this aged like fine milkGlyn31-05-2025
- This is just mean-spirited.agnessk29-05-2025