Bahrain - Victorious don't hold back with expectations of Lenny Martinez: "We want to make him the best French rider of the decade"
Cycling
It's clear Bahrain - Victorious doesn't want to have another subpar season like in 2024 when they ranked among the worst WT teams. But instead of large roster reshuffle, the team wants to go back to basics and continue to work with their young talents. And then there's also the one big talent joining the team - Lenny Martinez.
At Bahrain - Victorious, the focus is mainly on the youth. "We gave a lot of freedom to the young riders, but we also had a lot of bad luck with crashes and illness," team general manager Milan Erzen told Daniel Benson.
"Especially with four of our riders getting COVID during the Tour, and two who had to go home in the first week. That was difficult, but cycling is about going up and going down. Even the best teams have three years of good times and then a difficult year. We learned that we can't fall asleep anymore."
A difficult start to the year was a big factor in the team's poor season. "If you think you're doing everything right and you're not thinking outside the box, you're already behind. In 2024, that was definitely one of the mistakes we made at the beginning of the season and it was hard to come back from that."
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."
Still, they will take it relatively easy with the 21-year-old French prospect. "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."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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