Wearing the polka dot jersey since the 10th stage, the Cannes native Lenny Martinez struggled today as the Tour de France peloton entered the Pyrenees.
After the rest day and a stage spent in the gruppetto yesterday, Lenny Martinez decided to defend his polka dot jersey in the 12th stage. “I will try to score some points. We’ll see. Maybe try to join the breakaway,” the native of Cannes declared last night in Toulouse. At the start this morning from Auch heading towards Hautacam, there were 36 points available for those leading the different mountain difficulties of the day. In total, the riders covered 180 km entering the Pyrenees.
As expected, Lenny Martinez made it into the day’s breakaway. It was a substantial group attempting to contest the stage victory. Not much room for wasted energy while sheltering in this group, but not easy to make your mark against some of the Tour de France heavy hitters. Among them were three riders dangerous for the polka dot jersey classification. The first was none other than Michael Woods. The Canadian already had 11 points at the start. The other two were Michael Storer and the Frenchman Bruno Armirail, with four points each.
A Bad Day
Unfortunately, the battle was short-lived for Lenny Martinez. The climber from Cannes didn’t hold on for long before being dropped on the first ramps of the Col du Soulor, a category one climb. Result: no points scored for the Maralpin in the classification. He remains at 27 points. This is not the case for his competitors. With 11 points scored, Michael Woods significantly closed the gap this evening. Likewise, Bruno Armirail launched into a solo move until the base of Hautacam and now has 15 points in the classification.
But the main danger was Slovenian! Tadej Pogacar, by winning at the summit of Hautacam, scored 20 points, bringing his total to 27 points, resulting in a perfect tie with Lenny Martinez. With the advantage of the day’s victory, the Slovenian therefore takes the lead in the mountain classification.
Tomorrow Lenny Martinez will still wear the polka dot jersey since the new leader of the classification will be in yellow. However, at the end of the time trial that will take the riders to Peyragude, ten points will be awarded to the stage winner. An opportunity for Tadej Pogacar to create an initial gap!
The battle for this classification promises to be tight. Lenny Martinez will have to fight to match his grandfather Mariano, who brought the polka dot jersey back to Paris 47 years earlier. The Cannes native can nonetheless count on the support of his family, who have come to the roads of the Tour de France to support him.
The Classification:
1st – Tadej Pogacar: 27 pts
2nd – Lenny Martinez: 27 pts
3rd – Michael Woods: 22 pts
4th – Jonas Vingegaard: 19 pts
5th – Bruno Armirail: 15 pts.
