"I didn’t even see Tadej Pogacar" - Lenny Martinez narrowly misses podium at La Fleche Wallonne 2025

Returning to racing for the first time in a month, after a short break at altitude, Lenny Martinez looked strong on the final climb of Mur de Huy at La Fleche Wallonne 2025. In the end though, the Bahrain - Victorious star couldn't quite mark his return with a podium, finishing 4th behind Tadej Pogacar, Kevin Vauquelin and Tom Pidcock.

"I wasn’t feeling great all day," the 21-year-old Frenchman admitted honestly in his post-race interview at the finish line. "Like I said earlier, I’ve seen videos of guys cracking in the last 200 meters, so I wanted to save something for the end — maybe I held back a bit too much. Maybe I should’ve gone with Pidcock, and who knows, maybe I could’ve fought for the podium… maybe not. In the end, fourth place is good, but it’s just off the podium, so yeah, it’s a bit frustrating."

Although things were incredibly tight for the podium, Pogacar was on simply another level, winning with a 10 second gap to 2nd placed Vauquelin. "I was focused on myself and tried to give everything I had in the last 100 meters," Martinez says of the race-winner's final attack. "I didn’t even see Pogacar."

And whilst this is undoubtedly a positive performance from Martinez, don't expect him to be competing for Monument glory this weekend at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. At least not yet anyway. "I wasn’t great all day, but I felt good at the end, so right now, I’m not set to race Liège — but we’ll see," he concludes. "If I’m feeling strong, that could change. We’ll decide later this week."