Lenny Martinez shone during the 14th stage of the Tour, flying over the Pyrenean passes under a hellish weather. Making a remarkable breakaway, he seized the polka dot jersey and won the combativity prize.
Lenny Martinez decided to take control of this 14th stage of the Tour. The young climber from Cannes, dressed in his polka dot outfit but still second in the mountain classification behind Tadej Pogacar at the start, demonstrated all his mastery on the Pyrenean slopes, in an electrifying atmosphere at the heart of the peaks.
Right from the first inclines of the mythical Tourmalet, Martinez widened the gap: a minute’s lead over his pursuer, nearly three minutes over the peloton. A performance all the more remarkable as the riders had to face capricious weather, with fog and freezing temperatures that unsettled more than one.
The polka dot jersey is in the bag
It was in the final climb towards the col de Peyresourde that the scenario tightened. Martinez was caught by Sepp Kuss and Valentin Paret-Peintre, before conceding the lead of the race to Thymen Arensman, the Ineos Grenadiers rider.
But more fear than harm for the Frenchman. Thanks to a thunderous stage start, he gathered enough points to surpass Pogacar and take the lead in the mountain classification. Lenny Martinez will thus officially don the polka dot jersey at the end of this top-tier stage. The icing on the cake: he will also step onto the podium to receive the combativity prize, a logical reward for a day of relentless attacking in the Pyrenean summits.
Ranking:
1st – Lenny Martinez: 60 pts
2nd – Tadej Pogacar: 52 pts
3rd – Thymen Arensman: 48 pts
4th – Jonas Vingegaard: 39 pts
5th – Michael Woods: 38 pts
