Tour de France 2026: Can Lenny Martinez maintain his 5th place overall?

Two days before the finish, Lenny Martinez pulled off a great move during the 19th stage of the 2026 Tour de France. Second at the summit of Alpe d’Huez behind the unstoppable Tadej Pogacar, the rider from Cannes is now 5th in the general classification, nine seconds behind Mattias Skjelmose, just ahead of him.

After wearing the polka dot jersey in the 2025 edition, the Cannes rider Lenny Martinez (23 years old) changed his objectives for this 2026 Tour. Without any specific ambitions at the start this year, the Maralpin found himself competing with the favorites. By persisting stage after stage, the Bahrain Victorious rider established himself in the top 10 from the first few days.

This Friday, despite wanting to stay in the peloton to try to defend his seventh place in the standings, Lenny Martinez found himself at the front. In a large group of around forty riders, the Frenchman stayed discreet, taking advantage of the leniency of Tadej Pogacar’s team to gain an advantage. While observers long believed he could even win the stage, that was not the case when the yellow jersey attacked to reclaim 3min30 from the Nice-born rider and his breakaway companions Richard Carapaz and Sepp Kuss. At the finish, Lenny Martinez finished second in the stage, six seconds behind the man who broke the record for the climb in 35min27, nearly a minute faster than the late Marco Pantani, the previous record holder.

A good move despite the disappointment

While disappointment could be strong at the finish for the Cannes rider, who failed to win a stage within his reach, he nevertheless pulled off a very good move in the general classification, having started the stage in seventh place. In the mixed zone, Lenny Martinez was well aware of this: “Honestly, it was a good advantage to take. I had been frustrated for quite a few stages because there were guys in the top 10 who were going to escape and not me, because we weren’t trying too hard to break away. I saw a big group, I said why not, and then the group took me far. I just thought about gaining an advantage and only thought about winning the stage at the end.”

Now, he finds himself fifth in the general classification, between Paul Seixas — who has been training on the roads of the Alpes-Maritimes for a few weeks — and Danish rider Mattias Skjelmose (6th). The latter, freed from his leader at Lidl-Trek Juan Ayuso, is only nine seconds behind and should pull out all the stops tomorrow to try to beat the Maralpin.

Tomorrow, on terrain also conducive to attacks, Lenny Martinez could legitimately attack again between Le Bourg-d’Oisans and another finish at Alpe d’Huez, but via a different slope, more accessible than the one used today. At the end of this stage announced as the most difficult of this Tour de France, the Maralpin will have a clearer vision of his ability to maintain this impressive result, almost unexpected at the start. There will then remain the final stage with its three passes at Butte Montmartre to validate what would be, to date, his best general classification finish in a Grand Tour — and on the most prestigious of the season at that. A distinction that could propel him into another dimension at just 23 years old. An important factor since he could finish on the podium of the best young rider classification.

With the form he has shown over his 19 days of racing, all hopes are justified. Enough to make the members of his family proud and continue to carry the Martinez name high to the summits of international cycling.

General classification after the 19th stage:

1st – Tadej Pogacar
2nd – Remco Evenepoel at 7min11
3rd – Isaac del Toro at 9min42
4th – Paul Seixas at 10min06
5th – Lenny Martinez at 13min00
6th – Mattias Skjelmose at 13min09
7th – Juan Ayuso at 15min58.