For the first time since the start of the Vuelta, Lenny Martinez really struggled. It must be said that stage 13 across theFrench Pyrenees was considered as the race’s queen stage. After three major climbs, including the final one up to the Col du Tourmalet, the young climber from Groupama-FDJ reached the finish in eighteenth place, more than eight minutes behind the winner Jonas Vingegaard. He thereforelost his spot in the top 10 overall and is now fourteenth, more than ten minutes behind the red jersey Sepp Kuss. Alongside him for a while, Michael Storer received the combativity prizeafter coming first on the Aubisque and Spandelles climbs.
For many, the peloton was tackling the queen stage of the 78th Vuelta on Friday. One thing was certain, the day’s monstrousmenu didn’t allow any weakness: more than 4200 meters of elevation gain were concentrated in just 134 kilometres, therefore offering a metres of climbing per kilometre ratiorarely seen before. Although the stage mainly took place in France, the start was in Spain, in the Puerto de Portalet, shortly before the border. The fight for the breakaway began from this climb, Michael Storer followed a few moves, but the distance (4.4 km) and the gradients (5.4%) proved not enoughto make a difference. The peloton was therefore almost full when starting a very long descent towards Laruns, where the race resumed hard with the Col d’Aubisque (16.5 km at 7%). Numerous attacks occurred, and Michael Storer once again managed to join a group of around twenty riders halfway through the climb. In the meantime, the peloton broke up, and Lenny Martinez was often seen at the back. “I made the mistake of being a little behind,” he explained. “Then, I didn’t want to move up too fast because the tempo was high, so I went up little by little.” The young climber therefore never lost contact, and even managed to follow when Jumbo-Visma accelerated five kilometres from the summit, after Joao Almeida and especially Remco Evenepoel dropped.
“Michael was strong”, Benoît Vaugrenard
The red jersey group was then reduced to around thirty riders and caught the leading group, while Lenny Martinez was still supported by Rudy Molard, right up there despite his crash the day before. “The stage started quite well for us,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Rudy was impressive, and Michael was strong as well.” As the summit approached, the Australian went on the attack again, dropped off a few men and took first place at the top of the Col d’Aubisque. He was brought back further up the road due to a high tempo set by the pack on the descent. Four men, including Mikel Landa, Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard even took a gap before starting the Col de Spandelles (10.5 km at 8%). It led to a huge selection right at the bottom. The big favorites started to accelerate, Lenny Martinez lost a few metres but didn’t crack. The Groupama-FDJ leader bravely managed to come back to a group of around twenty men six kilometres from the summit, but he struggled again some three kilometres further. After returning to the group, Michael Storer managed to hold the pace and even attacked 1500 metres before the top to secure maximum points in the mountain classification. He did come first, virtually took the best climber’s jersey and then waited for the rest of the group.
“I had to fight until the end”, Lenny Martinez
As for Lenny Martinez, he limited his losses and crossed the top of this penultimate climb twenty seconds behind the best. “It wasn’t an easy day,” he said. “I had chills and cold in the Col de Spandelles. I held on, and then came back in the downhill.” The French rider managed to bridge across before the twenty flat kilometres leading to the bottom of the Col du Tourmalet (18.8 km at 7.4%) and tried to recover as best as possible. Unfortunately, this was not enough, and after just one kilometre of climbing in the Pyrenean Giant, he had to let the group go. “Physically, Lenny was empty, he had nothing left,” Benoît commented. “He managed to fight but it was difficult. He finished as best he could with Michael.” The Australian climber took on the domestique role for his young teammate, and therefore worked for him for part of the climb before Lenny Martinez finished alone in eighteenth place, 8’25 behind the winner Jonas Vingegaard. “I knew at the bottom of the Tourmalet that my legs and body were empty,”said Lenny. “Thanks to Michael, I had a wheel to hold on to. He helped me a lot and I finished as best I could. I had nothing left, but I had to fight to the end after all the work done by my teammates over the past two weeks.”
If some riders experienced bigger disappointments on Friday, the Frenchman still lost nine places overall, now sitting infourteenth position. “It’s a bad day, but he fought well and that’s part of his learning experience,” noted Benoît. “He is young, and it is through difficulty that you learn best. We will now take stock and see what we can do for the rest of the Vuelta”. Due to Jonas Vingegaard’s victory, Michael Storer didn’t collect the best climber’s jersey, but he did however win the most combative prize. All the Groupama-FDJ riders also finished on time at the top of the Col du Tourmalet andwill set off again tomorrow for another big mountain day. “They are very tired,” added Benoît. “The time limit was low,and they had to fight until the end. It was a very tough stage.”Saturday, they will have to do it all over again with three climbs and 4600 meters of elevation gain towards Larra-Belagua.
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