Lenny Martinez explains his shocking victory at Classic Var: "I saw him raise his arms and I thought I could still pass him"
Cycling
Lenny Martinez was crowned today in the Classic Var, a new one-day race finishing at Mont Faron. In the last meters he managed to overtake Tobias Halland Johannessen, who thought he was sure of victory and prematurely raised his arms.
"I am very happy to win here, for my family, close to home, in a race that I set as my goal," Martinez expressed on the Groupama - FDJ website. During the ascent of Mont Faron, there were several attacks. However, Martinez remained calm and mainly kept going.
"I tried not to explode when the other guys were attacking. Even though I was at my limit, I had to keep going, because there could be a lull. The narrow road made it even harder, as everyone was fighting for position. I wanted to attack at the end and take advantage of David's presence (his teammate David Gaudu, ed.), but others already did. That's why I told myself that I would wait until the end. It was an instinctive decision."
In the last few hundred meters, it seemed that the victory would be disputed between Romain Bardet and Tobias Halland Johannessen, who starred in a long sprint. The Norwegian overtook the Frenchman and appeared to be on his way to victory. Just before the finish line, he raised his hands, but that gesture caused him to lose a lot of speed. Martinez saw this, accelerated once more and took the win.
"I was completely exhausted," commented the 20-year-old Martinez. "My vision was blurry from the effort, I was just looking towards the finish line. I saw how he (Johannessen, ed.) raised his arms and I thought I could still pass him. I made it, and that's cycling. It's a special victory, because three hundred meters from the finish line I thought it was over, because I was left behind. But I gave everything until the end, and it was the right thing to do.
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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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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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LENNY MARTINEZ !!!!!!! La victoire au Mont Faron 🙌 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛 🤩
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