"I want to win the Tour de France" - Lenny Martinez does not hide his ambition after Bahrain - Victorious transfer
Cycling
Not since the legendary Bernard Hinault back in 1985 has a Frenchman stood on the final podium of the Tour de France adorned in the Maillot Jaune. In Lenny Martinez though, do the French cycling fans have a rider to hold their hopes? According to the man himself, yes.
So far, the 21-year-old has seen his development grow at Groupama - FDJ. For 2025 and the immediate years beyond though, the diminutive climber is set for a new challenge at Bahrain - Victorious. "I'm going to do a lot of preparation this winter, on and off the bike, to achieve my goals," he says in conversation with Le Monde, not making any attempt to hide his ambition. "I want to win the Tour de France."
Already with 6 victories on his palmares, Martinez has worn the Red Jersey at the Vuelta a Espana for a couple of days back in 2023 and completed his first Tour de France earlier this year, although admittedly he failed to make much of an impact. Hopes in France are big for the 21-year-old and Martinez is keen to live up to the expectations.
"To beat Tadej Pogacar, you have to put all the chances on your side," he adds, explaining his decision to move teams from his comfort at Groupama - FDJ to a new challenge at Bahrain - Victorious. "There are a lot of expectations around me. Many teams, both foreign and French, came to approach me, which is quite rare in the world of cycling."
Still young and a somewhat raw talent though, Martinez is fully aware improvement is needed to compete for Grand Tour success. "It (2024 season ed.) was cut in two, with good and bad. Everything was going badly. My legs were no longer turning in training," he recalls. "I wanted to take part in my first Tour de France with a French team. I have gained experience for the future."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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