Teams & Riders Greatness Comes in Small Frames! Lenny, The French Martinez - Thread

[Rob5091]

Is there a plan to aim for the Worlds as a protected rider post Vuelta as he is going well in hilly one day races and could be a medal contender.

At 274 km and with this profile, against the likes of MvdP, WvA, Pogi, etc I think it's just as well he sits this one out!

 

[hayneplane]

At 274 km and with this profile, against the likes of MvdP, WvA, Pogi, etc I think it's just as well he sits this one out!

I would be very surprised if MVDP was in the winning move in a race with that many vertical ascent metres.

 

[Rob5091]

MvdP is down on the PCS startlist so that's why I mentioned him, but Pogi's down for the race so I'd expect an attack from at least 50 km out.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

At 274 km and with this profile, against the likes of MvdP, WvA, Pogi, etc I think it's just as well he sits this one out!

Doesn't he have to race exactly these kind of races, against this opposition, to gain experience? And have an outsiders chance for a good result. He's won a 202k long race in February, but hasn't raced a full big classic yet. But all of his wins are one day races, so why not give it a try? I think the better argument against it, is that he's 20 an maybe it's better to give him a rest after the Vuelta.

 

[Rob5091]

He did quite well at Strade bianche, but the Worlds seems a bit early for him. For gaining experience I'd send him to Lombardia instead.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

He did quite well at Strade bianche, but the Worlds seems a bit early for him. For gaining experience I'd send him to Lombardia instead.

I doubt he'll die immediately if he rides both.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

I doubt he'll die immediately if he rides both.

Probably not, but would it be a good idea? I am also a bit skeptical about Lombardia, because he started winning in February so it would be quite a long season and good form not necessarily to be expected.

Also I just realized that he has 5 wins this season already, all in one day races of course, impressive.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Probably not, but would it be a good idea? I am also a bit skeptical about Lombardia, because he started winning in February so it would be quite a long season and good form not necessarily to be expected.

Also I just realized that he has 5 wins this season already, all in one day races of course, impressive.

He obviously can't ride all races, but right now he only has 2 more race days than he had at this point last year, and his schedule for the rest of the season looks to be pretty similar to 2023. He might of course be training more than he did last year (I don't know anything about that), but he should also be a little bit stronger now after completing his first pro season and maiden GT.

 

[Netserk]

I doubt he'll die immediately if he rides both.

Even if he would like to go, France has a strong team for Zurich, so riding it won’t be up to him.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Even if he would like to go, France has a strong team for Zurich, so riding it won’t be up to him.

With the season he's had so far, I think Voeckler will be able to find a spot for him, but it'll of course also depend on what some of the other riders deliver over the next months.

 

[Netserk]

I'd lead with Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Madouas & Laporte (if they are in form). I don't see what a climber has to offer to that team, certainly not one who hasn't finished a monument. I could be persuaded to bring Bardet or Sivakov, but I'd rather add some helpers and Grégoire or Lafay. France has so many good riders for that course, so Martinez wouldn't be among the first 10 I'd select.

 

[tobydawq]

I'd lead with Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Madouas & Laporte (if they are in form). I don't see what a climber has to offer to that team, certainly not one who hasn't finished a monument. I could be persuaded to bring Bardet or Sivakov, but I'd rather add some helpers and Grégoire or Lafay. France has so many good riders for that course, so Martinez wouldn't be among the first 10 I'd select.

Laporte???

Let's just say we read the course different...

Grégoire should absolutely be there, Vauquelin and Martinez too.

 

[Valv.Piti]

The next David Gaudu. Too limited psychically and lacks top-end talent. Fine rider for stages and KOM-jersey in TdF and perhaps a few top-10s

 

[Mayomaniac]

The next David Gaudu. Too limited psychically and lacks top-end talent. Fine rider for stages and KOM-jersey in TdF and perhaps a few top-10s

I'll wait with my judgement until I see if he improves a lot on Bahrain. He seems to be willing to go out of his comfort zone and is not that bad in TTs despite his (lack of) size and is actually willing to work on his TT-skills.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

The next David Gaudu. Too limited psychically and lacks top-end talent. Fine rider for stages and KOM-jersey in TdF and perhaps a few top-10s

Gaudu has won 2 one day races, Martinez has won 5 of them this season alone already. I don't know, but to me that's an indication that he's a winner. Never got the impression about Gaudu.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I don‘t see what Martinez does on the parts of the worlds loop that are near flat or slightly rolling. He could go in an early move but he can‘t offer any support there because he weighs like five kilos. The only strategy would be for him to just sit on there while the other French sit on in the bunch and if the move goes away, hope that he can launch a successful solo. There isn‘t any climb on the course where I see Martinez as one of the best. This isn‘t an Alpe d‘Huez circuit race.

 

[Netserk]

Laporte???

Let's just say we read the course different...

Grégoire should absolutely be there, Vauquelin and Martinez too.

It may well be too hard for him, but I think it's valuable to have cards to play in a broad range of situations. Partly because it can end in a reduced bunch sprint, but also because not fearing one can be leveraged in some situations.

 

[Motopace]

Martinez is underweight according to BMI spectrum, but he only just made it - VPP laughs at this short, stout boi.

What fascinates me is, add 30 kilos to Martinez' palmares and it's like Arnaud De Lie's.

Gonna party when signing his next fat contract

 

[Rob5091]

Little Lenny M is off to the Tour! Good luck to him!
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...s-davis-gaudu-and-stefan-kung-also-chase-wins


X post from FDJ

 

[Rob5091]

After FDJ messed up his schedule with a last minute call up to the Tour, now confirmed for Bahrain
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...-tour-de-france-podium?comment=12059#comments

... make the switch to Bahrain and that his salary would increase from around €200.000 per season to close to a million, a number Groupama could not match. Team Visma | Lease a Bike was also said to be in the running for his signing, but have in the meantime gotten Simon Yates as another strong climber added to their ranks.

Hope they don't burn the kid out. He'll have a problem at the moment with GTs but one day and week long races should get Bahrain a good return for their money.

 

[Squire]

So what was up with him at the Tour? I get that it was a last-minute call-up and all that, but he was quite literally one of the worst riders in the race. Is his base-level really that bad? Or was he ill on top of a bad preparation? Wasn't expecting Contador Giro 2008 levels of last-minute call-up results, but shouldn't a talent such as Martinez be able to have at least one or two competitive days in the mountains? The only redeeming factor was his good final TT after being in the gruppetto for the entire race.

 

[Rob5091]

https://www.equipecycliste-groupama-fdj.fr/en/news/lenny-martinez-back-in-the-mix/
“Actually, no one can win against Pogacar and Vingegaard."

It seems in this new era of the "two speed peloton" that some teams realize that the only thing worth going for at the Tour is stage wins. This appears to have been the plan at FDJ and whether it was planned or fatigue, the first week at the Tour was just "save as much energy as possible" and let the GC men sort themselves out.

He was supposed to rest up and do the Vuelta as he's raced since the middle of February (he only turned 21 in July) so that he struggled was not surprising as the 3 weeks of the Tour, as usual, was raced at a crazy speed most days. Interesting was his last day TT, as pointed out. He's a lot better then most would expect of a guy his size and weight.

 

[memyselfandI]

Interesting was his last day TT, as pointed out. He's a lot better then most would expect of a guy his size and weight.

It was ok, but then again how many were riding this last tt with absolute racing mind. There were many empty bodies just riding through.

Next Pozzovivo maybe, well Pozzo done some astonishing performances w/ tt bike..or without.

 

[Netserk]

So what was up with him at the Tour? I get that it was a last-minute call-up and all that, but he was quite literally one of the worst riders in the race. Is his base-level really that bad? Or was he ill on top of a bad preparation? Wasn't expecting Contador Giro 2008 levels of last-minute call-up results, but shouldn't a talent such as Martinez be able to have at least one or two competitive days in the mountains? The only redeeming factor was his good final TT after being in the gruppetto for the entire race.

Partly he was not in good shape given that he wasn't meant to ride it, but I also think that he deliberately only went full gas in the two ITTs.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Partly he was not in good shape given that he wasn't meant to ride it, but I also think that he deliberately only went full gas in the two ITTs.

Which is a weird way to ride the race tbh if youre going for stage wins, but I guess its pretty easy to tell if you have a chance for not, and he prolly decided that it really wasnt worth killing himself for when he couldn't win a stage anyways. Guess its rather easy as a pro to tell if your sensations are good enough to compete on a level such as TdF.