The Tour du Doubs saw a brutal battle up the final climb between Victor Lafay and Lenny Martínez, but the Cofidis rider managed to take the win in the final sprint.
The breakaway of the day consisted in six riders: Emil Vinjebo (Leopard TOGT Pro Cycling), Morné van Nierkerk (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93), Rory Townsend (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), Charlie Quarterman (Team Corratec), Wesley Mol (Bike Aid) and Sean Christian (Aevolo).
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Their gap grew as high as five minutes in the rolling roads of the Doubs region, but the chase of the peloton was always going to be too intense. AG2R Citroën Team and Groupama - FDJ kept the pace high, with Cofidis also present as the local World Tour teams felt the pressure.
Van Niekerk and Townsend were the last survivors, eventually caught with 14 kilometers to go as Arkéa Samsic also showed their guns towards the front. The peloton headed towards the final ascent reduced and with the World Tour teams swarming the front.
The fight for positioning ahead of the final climb was intense, with narrow roads being the leading cause. With more than three kilometers to go, not far from the start of the ascent Lenny Martínez launched an attack splitting the group with five riders going up the road. Alex Baudin then accelerated, and was dropped as Victor Lafay made a move, with Martínez and Roger Adrià following (albeit for a bit only). Guillaume Martin made a move behind and tried to catch up with the leading duo.
Mart´ínez launched several attacks in the final meters but without dropping Lafay. The chasing duo bridged across in the final meters with Adrià launching his sprint first, but in the finishing straight Victor Lafay managed to be the fastest and take the win as Adrià crossed the line in third, and Lenny Martínez finished a frustrating second.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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