Martinez criticized by his team Bahrain Victorious after losing 9 (!) minutes in echelon stage: "Only one person is to blame"

After rain comes sunshine—but after sunshine, the rain returns. Lenny Martinez was on cloud nine for a day, celebrating his first-ever WorldTour victory in stage five of Paris-Nice. Confidence radiated from the young Frenchman, but just 24 hours later, he was given a harsh reality check. In the chaotic echelon stage, the climber lost all hope of a strong general classification finish.

The 21-year-old finished nearly nine minutes behind race leader Matteo Jorgenson. Afterward, Martinez did not speak to the media, but team director Roman Kreuziger was left stunned as he addressed the press. “I don’t know what happened—I’ll have to talk to the guys,” he told DirectVelo. The Czech director made it clear who was to blame. “I haven’t seen the footage yet. He’s taking a shower, and then we’ll talk. Right now, I don’t know what to say. This wasn’t a team mistake. It was one person’s mistake, and that mistake put the whole team in trouble.” His message was unmistakably directed at Martinez.

The risk of echelons had been discussed beforehand, and the Côte-Beaux-de-Provence—where Visma | Lease a Bike launched its attack—was highlighted as a danger zone. “We knew that was a critical point in the race. We urged the guys to stay near the front, but Lenny was caught out, and unfortunately, we had to use everyone to limit the damage.” They couldn’t recover, and as a result, Martinez’s GC hopes were completely wiped out. He has now dropped to 23rd place, more than 10 minutes behind Jorgenson.

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From a high on Thursday to an absolute low on Friday for Martinez

Martinez takes responsibility: "It was my mistake"

A day after his Paris-Nice disaster, Lenny Martinez was once again able to speak to the media. Before the start of the shortened queen stage, he explained what had gone wrong. "I felt very, very bad that day," he told Cycling Pro Net. "Not good at all. That made everything much more complicated—especially with the conditions, which only made it worse." Unlike in the previous days, the cold hit him hard.

But that wasn’t his only issue. After two tough mountain stages, the young French climber also felt it in his legs. "It was cold, but my muscles were also completely fatigued. Still, I was the one who wasn’t in the right position, even though I later couldn’t hold my teammates’ wheels. I felt terrible, but it was my mistake." Now, Martinez says he has started to recover and is already looking ahead to the finish of the shortened queen stage, where he hopes to make up for lost time. "Today, I feel okay. I slept well, but we’ll have to see how I feel on the bike. The finish suits me. If I have good legs, I think I can get a strong result. I hope things go well."

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