Lenny Martinez takes stage win & race lead at Tour de Romandie 2025: "In the end I had the punch to beat João Almeida - I'm really happy"

Bahrain - Victorious have some lofty ambitions for Lenny Martinez after his big-money move from Groupama - FDJ over the off-season. On the Queen Stage of the 2025 Tour de Romandie, the Frenchman proved why, out-kicking Joao Almeida at the top of the Thyon 2000 to take the stage win and move into the lead of the general classification. 

The battle between Martinez and Almeida was an incredibly exciting one on the final climb, with the pair trading the front consistently after having broke free of their rivals. "It was a super long climb, so here you just have to try to not go too deep for too long, otherwise you can get tired very quickly," Martinez explained in his post-stage interview with reporters after crossing the line victorious. 

"It was really hard, but we rode really well as a pair, and in the end I had the punch to beat João Almeida, but he was really strong too, so I'm really happy to win here today for the team," continues the 21-year-old proudly. "I didn't want to go ahead alone, and I think they [UAE Team Emirates - XRG] were trying to distance the Astana rider for the GC, so that benefited me a bit. They set a good pace, so he was distanced, and then I went with João, and we rode super strong."