The GC fight started already this Tuesday on the Volta a Catalunya, with a second stage which took the riders to the summit of Vallter 2000. Lenny Martinez was highly expected for this first test, and he definitely lived up to the expectations. While Tadej Pogacar proved to be the strongest overall, the young French climber fought with the other main favourites and took a very nice fifth place at the finish. He now sits in the same position overall and will wear the best young rider’s jersey on Wednesday.
After an intense opening stage, it was already time to hit the mountains this Tuesday on the Volta a Catalunya. On the 186 kilometres making of the second stage, the peloton was heading towards the well-known climb of Vallter 2000 (11.5 km at 7.5%), in what was supposed to be a straightforward day. Over the first, flat hundred kilometres, a breakaway of six men including Jimmy Janssens, Kevin Colleoni, Samuel Fernandez, Alex Jaime, Jambaljamts Sainbayar and Xabier Isasa managed to take a maximum gap of six minutes. The first and penultimate climb of the day’s route came with about sixty kilometres to go, the attackers still had a three-minute gap, but the weather got worse very quickly. The early sun was followed by a few drops then by proper showers. “The weather conditions in the final, with the cold and the rain, made the race harder,” said Thierry Bricaud. “Apart from that, the stage went as expected with UAE Team Emirates controlling the whole day then making it hard on the final climb.”
“When Pogacar went, I took my own pace”, Lenny Martinez
Following the fight for position approaching the climb of Vallter 2000, a crash in the middle of the pack forced Rémy Rochas and Lenny Martinez to make an effort on the first slopes to get back to the front. Tadej Pogacar’s teammates continued to pace up, then the Slovenian went on his own almost seven kilometres from the finish. Behind him a group of eight riders quickly established, with Lenny Martinez. “I didn’t feel that good at the start, but it went quite well on the climb eventually,” said the young Frenchman. “My legs kind of came back as soon as it started to rain. When Pogacar went, I took my own pace. First, I had to close a gap, then I tried to attack several times, but we had more or less the same level.” The chasing group was still reduced to six units, Lenny Martinez proved to be among the most active, and even got a small gap at one point with Mikel Landa and Aleksandr Vlasov. “I tried to work with them, but it was more to gain time on GC,” he added. “Landa was strong as well, and when he attacked towards the end, I couldn’t follow. I hung on, and it was then full-gas to the finish.”
“Lenny is riding at an excellent level”, Thierry Bricaud
The Groupama-FDJ climber was distanced by the Spaniard and the Russian with around two kilometres to go and ultimately reached the summit in fifth position, 1’43 behind Pogacar. “I have never been so cold as I was at the summit,” he said shortly after reaching the finish line at 2,146 metres of altitude. “I was frozen. I couldn’t move my hands anymore. I changed gears without willing to. It made the effort even harder, but fifth at the finish isn’t bad. It’s a good day”. “Lenny was with the best for a very long time,” added Thierry. “He’s missing a little something, but he didn’t have amazing legs. He limited his losses extremely well and this proves once again that he’s riding at an excellent level. The place at the finish is not that important. Above all, he finished with the best climbers, and that gives him a lot of possibilities for the rest of the Volta a Catalunya. It can be interesting”. Now fifth overall, 2’01 behind the Slovenian leader, and also the best young rider, Lenny Martinez will already have to defend his position on Wednesday in a day tallying almost 4000 metres of elevation gain and with another top finish at Port Ainé (18km at 6.7%).
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