Behind Lenny Martinez, Clement Champoussin securs French one-two at Paris-Nice: "I was well positioned at the start, and then I really hung on until the end"

On a brutal day in France, Lenny Martinez emerged victorious on Stage 5 of Paris-Nice, conquering the Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Sciez to claim a brilliant win. The young Frenchman outpaced Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas Vingegaard in a hard-fought finale, but the second-place finisher was another French rider, Clément Champoussin of XDS Astana Team.

With his impressive runner-up finish, Champoussin has now climbed into the top 10 of the general classification, sitting in 9th place.

"It was very tough. I was well positioned at the start, and then I really hung on until the end. I'm second, so I'm pretty happy. It's nice, but there are still a lot of stages to go, so you have to stay calm and focused," he told Cyclism’Actu.

Despite Jonas Vingegaard struggling on the climb, Champoussin admitted he was too focused on his own effort to notice what was happening behind him. "Honestly, I didn't have much time to look on the climb, I was going flat out."

And so it was a memorable day for French cycling, with Martinez taking the win and Champoussin securing second place, giving the home fans plenty to celebrate as the race continues. Will 2025 prove to be a more promising year for French cycling?