The French promise Lenny Martínez, from the Groupama team and only 19 years old, prevailed in the so-called CIC – Mont Ventoux, a one-day race that ends at the mythical peak and which was cut, finishing in the first step, Because of the bad weather. There were two planned, but the conditions were not optimal and they finally covered 98.3 km. In a small group, Martínez was the strongest to beat a specialist in finals like this, such as the Canadian Michael Woods, and the British Carr. In fourth position was the first of the Spaniards, a Cristian Rodríguez who continues to accumulate good results with Arkea. Iván Sosa, from Movistar, was sixth. Mikel Bizkarra, tenth, and Jesús Herrada, who already knew what it was like to win this race, entered later, in twelfth place. The escape of the day was neutralized before the final ascent, the one that catapulted the ‘Spanish’ Lenny.
And it is that cycling runs through Lenny Martínez’s veinssince the young cyclist from the Groupama-FDJ subsidiary is the son and grandson of former professional cyclists. Lenny is the son of Miguel Martínez, who was a professional with Mapei and Phonak in the early 2000s, and the grandson of an even more memorable cyclist: Mariano Martínez, of Burgos descent. but who completed his entire career as a professional under the French flag, achieving the bronze in the 1974 World Championships behind Eddy Merckx and Raymond Poulidor, and winning two stages in the Tour de France and the mountains classification in 1978in addition to finishing in the Top-10 overall in 1972 (sixth), 1974 (eighth) and 1978 (tenth).
Lenny Martínez’s career began to shine in 2021, when the young cyclist got on the podium as third in the road races and junior time trial of the French championships and with a stage victory and the general in the Giro della Lunigiana, a race in which great riders such as Vincenzo Nibali, Tadej Pogacar or Remco Evenepoel have triumphed among others. This is his first season on the World Tour. His team, Groupama, today announced five of the seven riders who will go to the Tour de France: David Gaudu, Kevin Geniets, Stefan Küng, Thibaut Pinot and Valentin Madouas. The sprinter Démare, one of his stars, will not be there, who also announces that he will leave the team at the end of this season. Lenny Martínez will continue, since he has a contract.
Classification
1st Lenny Martínez (FRA/Groupama) 2h 48:41
2nd Michael Woods (CAN/Isr) to 1
3rd Simon Carr (GBR/Education First) mt
4th Cristian Rodríguez (Arkea) mt
5th Clement Champoussin (FRA/Arkea) 13.