CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious superstar Lenny Martinez delivered an impressive performance on the opening stage of the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland yesterday, sprinting to third place and taking the lead in both the king of the mountains (KOM) and best young rider rankings.
The 171.2-kilometre leg, featuring 2,186 metres of climbing, came to life on the category one climb to Ovronnaz. The 8.9km ascent, averaging 9.6 per cent, quickly separated the main general classification (GC) contenders, with Martinez one of the few riders able to follow the wheel of the strongest rider, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates.
Martinez showed his strength near the summit, passing Pogacar at the crest of the climb to claim maximum KOM points.
He reached the top alongside Pogacar, Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, and Jorgen Nordhagen of Visma-Lease a Bike, who rejoined on the descent before the four riders pushed on towards the finish.
Despite a chasing group of 12 riders behind, which included Bahrain Victorious’ Antonio Tiberi, the front quartet held their advantage to the line, finishing 21 seconds clear.
Martinez launched his sprint strongly and narrowly missed out on second place in a photo finish with Lipowitz, securing third on the stage. Behind, Tiberi finished seventh from the chasing group to round out a positive day for Bahrain Victorious.
Martinez’s performance marked an encouraging start to the race, underlining his form and climbing ability as he matched the strongest riders on the decisive climb and finished the day wearing both the KOM and best young rider jerseys.
“Yeah, the feeling wasn’t amazing, but it was okay,” said Martinez. “In the final, I felt completely empty, but it’s the first stage so it’s often like this. It’s still a good start.
“It was also nice to have Antonio behind in the group – he helped me a lot, and the whole team did a great job positioning me well for the climb.
“I’m happy to start Romandie like this. Of course, it would have been nice to stay just with Tadej, but Nordhagen came across and contributed as well, so overall it was a solid day.”
Bahrain Victorious sports director Roman Kreuziger commented: “As expected, it was a controlled start with the initial laps, and we knew it would come down to the climb. The team did an excellent job positioning Lenny for that moment.
“We can be very satisfied with third place, especially as it was so close to second with Lipowitz.
“Of course, every team has its own tactics, and we hoped the front group might work to build a bigger gap, but we also had Antonio in the second group who did a great job to finish seventh.
“It’s always tough to come close to a stage win, but we know how strong Pogacar is, so we stay grounded and take confidence from how both riders handled the final.
“It’s a strong position to be in after the first day of Romandie.”
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