For a first, it’s a masterstroke. Lenny Martinez, grandson of Spanish cyclist Mariano Martinez, born in Burgos and winner of the Tour de France mountain Grand Prix in 1978, donned the red jersey of leader of the Vuelta 2023 (August 26-17) on Thursday. September), for his first participation in a grand tour. During the 6? stage between La Vall d’Uixo and the observatory of Javalambre, the young (20 years old) Frenchman took second place, 26 seconds (excluding bonuses) from the American Sepp Kuss. Lenny Martinez is 8 seconds ahead of today’s stage winner in the general classification.
Third this morning, 17 seconds behind Remco Evenepoel – now 10? at 2 minutes 47 – Martinez struggled to contain his joy at the Eurosport microphone in the finish area. “It’s incredible, the Vuelta is already successful, he rejoiced. As the race went on, I saw that it was hard to take the breakaway, and I told myself that the group that was going to come out was going to be a good group. The team protected me all day, it’s also thanks to them. »
Present in a breakaway of 42 riders, in which appeared Sepp Kuss, Marc Soler or his compatriot Romain Bardet, the climber from Groupama-FDJ initially relied on a lot of work from his teammates, including Rudy Molard (33 years).
Relegated to more than 3 minutes, the peloton then relied on the strong relays of Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal-Quick Step formation to close the gap. Huddled in the peloton, the leaders of the Jumbo-Visma team, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, finally attacked on the final climb of Pico del Buitre, 10.9 km long (8% average gradient), to drop Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian, winner of the last edition, lost around thirty seconds to his main competitors.
The neophyte Martinez
For 8 small seconds, Lenny Martinez seizes the red jersey, at 20 years and 51 days. Born into a family of cyclists – his father Miguel Martinez was Olympic mountain bike champion in 2000 – the protege of Marc Madiot, who first started with cyclo-cross, had joined the first team of Groupama-FDJ.
Twelfth in the Tour of Catalonia in March, second in the 2023 edition of the Classic Grand Besançon Doubs race a few days later, Lenny Martinez had already distinguished himself during the Critérium du Dauphiné, in June. Initially lined up as a support for David Gaudu, the neophyte Martinez had shown his great abilities in the mountains by finishing 18? in the general classification.
Thursday, Martinez yielded to Sepp Kuss, 12? of the Tour de France and 14? of the Giro, in the last ascent, 3 kilometers from the finish. But the red leader’s jersey he wins is much more than a consolation prize for his first participation in a grand tour.
In 2022, his teammate Rudy Molard also had the joy of donning the red tunic, during the 5? stage of the Tour of Spain. He had sold it the next day to the future winner, Remco Evenepoel. Friday, between Utiel and Oliva (200.8 kilometers), a stage on flat ground intended for sprinters, Lenny Martinez will be able to breathe after a demanding day.
