The second stage of the Volta a Catalunya, on Tuesday, represented the first major test for Lenny Martinez at the WorldTour level. It was indeed his very first fight in a summit finish against a world-class field, and the 19-year-old French climber did not disappoint. He even made quite an impression, since he kept pace with the best until the last two kilometres of the long climb to Vallter 2000. On the line, he eventually took a remarkable fourteenth place, putting him to twelfth position overall. Another top finish, less difficult on paper, will be on the menu on Wednesday towards La Molina.
It was a whole new start on Tuesday for the Groupama-FDJ team on the Volta a Catalunya, in the aftermath of a hectic opening day. Due to his crash in the first stage, Michael Storer couldn’t obviously take part in the fight at the top of Vallter 2000, but he did present himself at the start in Mataró. Also, Jussi Veikkanen and Franck Pineau had another option for this first fight among the GC contenders. “We didn’t completely change our strategy despite what happened yesterday,” Jussi said. “We knew it was a great opportunity to test ourselves. We knew the finish and the approach of the final climb, and because of the race conditions, we knew that it would be hard for the break and that it would come down to a battle between the best. We wanted to protect Lenny as best as possible without putting pressure on him”. While an eight-man breakaway including Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-Samsic), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco AlUla), Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan), Julen Amezqueta, Francisco Galván (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) managed to take the lead, the French climber could then benefit from the support of his teammates, and in particular the experienced Matthieu Ladagnous.
“Lenny managed his effort well”, Jussi Veikkanen
“We were attentive and up there already in the first climb, with fifty kilometres to go”, said Jussi. “The team was solid and united around Lenny. Everyone did their best. Also, Clément was feeling much better today after his crash in Denain. Michael also managed his day quite well and felt better than last night. It was already a good thing.” Everything seemed smooth, but about eighteen kilometres from the finish, approaching the bottom of the final climb, Reuben Thompson and Lenny Martinez were caught in a crash. “Reuben fell and had to change his bike”, explained Jussi. “He chased hard to get back into the peloton. He managed to come back, but he spent a lot of energy for it”. “The approach was pretty good until I crashed with Reuben and a few other riders,” Lenny said. “Fortunately, I had nothing serious. I got up, I saw that the bike was ok, and I set off again. However, I did not get to the bottom in the top positions, but the team brought me back step by step, and I want to thank them for it. I didn’t want to make a hard effort, so we moved up together with Bruno progressively”. “The point for him was to not enter the red zone,” said Jussi. “It’s still a very hard finish, more than 2100 meters above sea level. He managed his effort well”.
“Happy with my performance”, Lenny Martinez
After covering the first half of the climb in the back, the former rider from “La Conti” finally caught the GC group just seven kilometres from the top. At that point, there were only about twenty men left in the lead. “I had to close the gaps left by the riders as I moved back up,” he said. “Little by little, I was able to get back into the top-20. Once there, I wanted to stay behind, in the wheels. I kept the pace throughout the climb, and I just got distanced two kilometres from the finish, when Remco Evenepoel accelerated”. A long time alongside some of the peloton’s best climbers, Lenny Martinez did pass his first test on a summit finish, and eventually crossed the line in fourteenth position, 53 seconds behind the winner Giulio Ciccone. “I’m still happy with my performance,” he said. “My legs felt a bit harder in the final, but I think it was more due to the effort than the altitude. It didn’t bother me that much. I was pleasantly surprised from that point of view.” “We obviously know his qualities as a climber”, added Jussi. “That said, it is still his first WorldTour race and his first major summit finish. We know he has abilities, he proved it, and we are not going to set limits on him. On the opposite, we must continue this way, improve, and discover. Tomorrow, it will be similar to La Molina. We will keep protecting him, position him well in the bunch and we’ll see how far we can go with him”.
On Tuesday evening, Lenny Martinez also made a fifty-place jump in the general classification as he now sits just outside the top-10 (12th), 1’19 behind Primoz Roglic.
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