"It really felt like we were riding a Belgian classic or a race like Paris-Roubaix" - Lenny Martinez compares chaotic start of Strade Bianche to cobbled classics

Behind seemingly invincible Tadej Pogacar, there was a fierce battle for the remaining spots on the podium at Strade Bianche. French fans put lot of their hopes in Julian Alaphilippe, but in the end it was Lenny Martinez and Benoit Cosnefroy to raise their country's flag.

"The start was very fast, without any real breakaway," he says on his team's website. "The pace was bizarrely high. In the beginning it really felt like we were riding a Belgian classic or a race like Paris-Roubaix. It was very nervous. I had a lot of difficulty on the first strips. I found it difficult to get back into position, but then I worked my way forward group after group. It was really chaotic there."

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Martinez was well aware that there was simply nothing he could do against Pogacar on Saturday afternoon. "At one point I heard on the radio that he was riding two or three minutes ahead of us, even though we were also riding fast. Tadej rode around on another level. Once we got into the chase, I had long given up on the idea of winning. The group itself was still attacked a lot, only to then look at each other again."

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