The second week of the Tour de France 2024 ended this Sunday with a monstrous stage 15 in the Pyrenees. Over nearly 200 kilometres, the riders had to climb no less than five climbs and 5,000 metres of elevation gain. In the end, the yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar once again proved dominant. Lenny Martinez took part in the day’s breakaway up until the Col d’Agnes. On Monday, the peloton will enjoy a most-awaited rest day.
The second day in the Pyrenees, undoubtedly the hardest, could also be considered as the queen stage of the Tour de France this Sunday. Although the climbs were more spread out than what the riders will get in stage 20 next weekend, there were quite numerous towards the Plateau de Beille. Before this iconic finishing climb, the Col de Peyresourde, the Col de Mente, the Col du Portet-d’Aspet and the Col d’Agnes were in the menu for a staggering total elevation gain of 5,000 metres. Unlike the day before, the peloton tackled the first slopes right away and then fought for twenty minutes without a breakaway being able to establish. Approaching the summit, David Gaudu still made a strong acceleration which allowed him to take the maximum points and a few seconds lead. “We knew we weren’t going to win against the favourites,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Actually, no one can win against Pogacar and Vingegaard. The goal was therefore to take the breakaway with Lenny or David. David tried on the first climb, he joined a move of three men, but they were caught after the downhill.”
“I’m happy to finally show myself”, Lenny Martinez
From then on, other moves followed, and in the valley preceding the Col de Mente, a group of around twenty riders broke away. Among them was Lenny Martinez. “I noted on the first climb that I was feeling pretty good, I climbed back up little by little,” said the young man. “We had David in front first, which was perfect, but they got caught. So, I played it well for the team, I followed a move and I managed to take the breakaway.” In the lead, he found himself with a few big names such as Jai Hindley, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas or Ben Healy. Unfortunately, the breakaway was once again unable to really go clear. This time, Visma-Lease a Bike kept up the pressure, around two minutes behind the leading men. “It was going very fast in the breakaway,” still said Lenny. The first group up the road was able to get over the Mente and Portet-d’Aspet climbs, cover a sixty-kilometre-long valley to reach the Col d’Agnes, where the Frenchman’s adventure came to an end. “As the kilometres passed by, the legs became harder,” he explained. “I didn’t have much left and I exploded.” “He blew out a bit, but in any case, we don’t have regrets today because the breakaway was caught,” added Benoît.
Five men still reached the bottom of the Plateau de Beille with a two-minute gap, but this proved to be insufficient against the favorites, and in particular Tadej Pogacar. Lenny Martinez finished almost thirty minutes after the Slovenian, with Romain Grégoire. “I’m still happy to finally show myself and be able to go in the front, because the start of the Tour was difficult,” he explained. “Being in front in the Tour is very special, especially on July 14. There were a lot of spectators and I thank them for their support. We’ll continue like this, trying to take breakaways. There are still a lot of opportunities left, and we will do everything to get a stage with the team.” “Lenny is back in the mix and feels a bit better,” Benoît concluded. “This is a good sign for the third week. There are some great stages for us next week, especially Wednesday and Thursday. In the meantime, we will have to make the most of the rest day tomorrow because the race has been really fast since Tuesday.”
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