“When I was a kid, I dreamed about this”: Lenny Martinez stuns with 5th overall in breakout Tour de France
Cycling
Lenny Martinez arrived at the 2026 Tour de France targeting stage wins and the polka dot jersey. Three weeks later, the Bahrain Victorious climber leaves Paris with something even more valuable: a fifth place overall that firmly establishes the 23-year-old among the sport's elite.
Martinez exceeds every expectation
Martinez safely navigated the cobbled finale on the Champs-Élysées, where Mathieu van der Poel claimed a spectacular solo victory, before celebrating the biggest result of his career. The Frenchman admitted relief was his main emotion after making it through the final stage without incident.
“There was definitely a lot of relief. You're always afraid of crashing on the cobbles, it would be so frustrating on the final stage, so I was very careful. I'm really happy. Fifth place in the Tour is incredible,” he said in words gathered by Cyclism Actu.
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Just three weeks earlier, Martinez would never have believed such a result was possible. “Oh yes, I would have signed for that immediately! Honestly, I wouldn't even have believed it because, for me, it's incredible to be among the five best riders in the world at the Tour. When I was a kid, I dreamed about this, so it's unbelievable.”
Before the race, Martinez had spoken openly about chasing mountain stages and the King of the Mountains classification rather than the general classification. Now, he admits a top-five finish surpasses anything he had imagined.
“It's incredible. Honestly, I never thought I'd be capable of doing this in my life. I'm just so happy. Of course, there will be much higher expectations now. But I'm happy. What's achieved is achieved.”
Lenny Martinez on stage 12 of the 2026 Tour de France
Vauquelin takes positives despite setbacks
For Kévin Vauquelin, the Tour unfolded very differently from his breakthrough 2025 campaign. The Netcompany INEOS rider arrived at the race after battling illness and then suffered further setbacks, including an early puncture in the opening time trial. He eventually finished 36th overall, with sixth-place finishes in Foix and Belfort representing his best stage results.
Despite the disappointment, Vauquelin believes there were encouraging moments. “I came into this Tour without the form I was hoping for, mainly because of illness. I fought throughout the race to find good sensations again, but that's never easy during a Tour de France.”
“There were still moments where I had good legs, and I'm satisfied with that. I had two opportunities to fight for a stage victory, even though I only finished sixth. Just having the chance to compete for a Tour stage win is something exceptional.”
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However, the third week proved particularly difficult as fatigue and illness caught up with him. “Towards the end of the third week, my body started telling me to stop. I felt like I wasn't far from getting sick again, and it became more and more difficult.”
“There are good lessons to take away and a lot of resilience. You can't always get everything you want. Last year everything went perfectly: no setbacks, no illness, nothing. This year was completely different. You don't lose, you learn.”
The Frenchman also dismissed suggestions that his team's repeated punctures were caused by equipment. “It's simply bad luck. Several teams use exactly the same tyre brand, so there's nothing to look at there. Sometimes you have seasons where nothing happens, and other years every bit of bad luck comes your way.”
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
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