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

[Rob5091]

FDJ sent him out for a training ride at San Sebastian and now it's on to the Vuelta (he's down for Tour du Limousin but no way can I see him doing that and the Vuelta).

 

[Hugo Koblet]

The Tour was a horrible idea. Now the Vuelta is a horrible idea. He needs a break, but I guess that FDJ doesn't really care anymore.

 

[Rob5091]

The Tour was a horrible idea. Now the Vuelta is a horrible idea. He needs a break, but I guess that FDJ doesn't really care anymore.

Yep, Lenny M's off to Bahrain and with Gaudu struggling, it's getting desperate at FDJ. Madouas silver at the Olympics is the high light of a bleak year.

 

[Rob5091]

Common sense has finally prevailed at FDJ and Little Lenny M is not down for the Vuelta.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Alexey Lutsenko set to bolster IPT roster from 2025 - Israel — Premier Tech Pro Cycling Team

Israel – Premier Tech will welcome Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko to its ranks for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

israelpremiertech.com

It seems you've got your own "great" threads mixed up.

Also at first I thought Adams were saying, that Lutsenko was bringing death and versatility to the team.

 

[Rob5091]

The battle of the Lennys is not quite over for the year (Lenny VE is in China), but little Lenny M is already planning for next year and has big goals -
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/le...winning-tour-de-france-ahead-of-bahrain-move/

"I want to win the Tour."

I would guess a shot at the KOM jersey would be the first goal.

 

[Squire]

What a strange season. Absolutely nothing since May. And yes, he's young, but he wasn't really raced that hard in the first part of the year either. He's saying his legs weren't turning over anymore, even in training. Dunno if that's an indication of some problem, or just that he had a lot of fatigue/no form. Curious to see what Bahrain can do with him.

 

[Rob5091]

All quiet on the Little Lenny M front. Milan Erzen speaks -
https://dnlbenson.substack.com/p/we-learned-that-we-cant-fall-asleep
also at
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...-make-him-the-best-french-rider-of-the-decade

With the signing of Lenny Martinez, Bahrain - Victorious has acquired one of the sport's most promising talents. He will normally start in the Tour de France. "I picked Lenny out when he was a junior. I think he has the skills to be a good GC rider, but our primary goal is not just the Tour de France or stage wins. We want to show his potential in France, and our goal is to make him the best French rider of this decade. That's one of our priorities."
"In the first part of the season we will see, because he will ride Paris-Nice and then the Dauphiné in France, and some classics in the second half. He will share a leader role in the team with Santiago Buitrago, so they will both be under less pressure. They will both go for the Tour de France."

At the Tour, the team will not necessarily go for the GC, despite having quite a few good climbers in the team. Rather they'll focus on smaller objectives: "It is more important to win two stages than to finish tenth in the GC."

"Sniper" Tiberi to go for the Giro.

 

[Mayomaniac]

All quiet on the Little Lenny M front. Milan Erzen speaks -
https://dnlbenson.substack.com/p/we-learned-that-we-cant-fall-asleep
also at
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...-make-him-the-best-french-rider-of-the-decade

"Sniper" Tiberi to go for the Giro.

Meh, I would have sent Tiberi to ride his first Tour as a learning experience, while Lenny rides the Giro, away from the French media...

 

[Rob5091]

Meh, I would have sent Tiberi to ride his first Tour as a learning experience, while Lenny rides the Giro, away from the French media...

I suppose it could still happen, but I'm guessing it depends on the Spring schedule too for both guys.

 

[Rob5091]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...some-point-in-my-career-i-wanted-to-go-abroad

Original article inFrench at https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/l...e-etiquette-de-leader_sto20068809/story.shtml

This year, he should race the Tour, as well as Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Edit - A new coach and new training regime, so it'll be interesting to see how he does.

 

[Rob5091]

Team leader now at PN and hope he's got his skis ...
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...z-goes-toe-to-toe-with-vingegaard-and-almeida

"It feels good to be with the big favorites like that," he said in a flash interview after the stage. "I tried to get a result at the end but it was super explosive. I'm still happy with the day."

Race neutralization came at the right time for Martinez who was able to change into warmer clothes and re-enter his zone. "I waited for the car to change otherwise I don't think I would have finished the race, I was very cold... But then the race resumed and I warmed up," he explained. Martinez is currently 9th overall, 1:09 behind race leader, Jonas Vingegaard. Then the goal is likely the podium which is only 36 seconds away.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well done!

 

[armchairclimber]

get in Lenny son!!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Get in Miguel's son!

 

[pastronef]

this feels so sweet. the shjt he got by some twitter lunatics of the Holy Church of FDJ when he signed for Bahrain.
today is just great

 

[Rob5091]

Yep, the Lenny's are doing alright. This battle will hot up at the Tour.

 

[SafeBet]

this feels so sweet. the shjt he got by some twitter lunatics of the Holy Church of FDJ when he signed for Bahrain.
today is just great

Not many clowns complaining about his salary today. Such a great rider and great character too!

 

[armchairclimber]

would love to see him ride Fleche Wallone this year. Watching that today, he'd be great for the Mur.

 

[SafeBet]

would love to see him ride Fleche Wallone this year. Watching that today, he'd be great for the Mur.

And great he was.
He wasn't sure about his shape a few days after coming down from Teide and was about to get dropped earlier in the race, but he finished 4th in the end.

Hopefully Bahrein takes him to LBL.

 

[SafeBet]

Stage wins in Paris - Nice and Romandie. Not bad Lenny, not bad.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Gaudu's femboy discord channel is probably in shambles right now.

 

[Cookster15]

Martinez is just 52Kg. Now that's what I call a pure climber ! Only 21, we will hear a lot more from him !

 

[pastronef]

the small pocket of hardcore fans of the Holy Church of FDJ on twitter are having a rough time

 

[CyclistAbi]

Really wanted to win today and won. Chapeau!