While he had to reserve himself for the Vuelta (from August 17 to September 8), the young climber (20 years old) will discover the Grande Boucle alongside another neophyte, Romain Grégoire, to support the leader of the team, David Gaudu.
:quality(50)/2024/06/21/mateorond-6675cbfea18d6661873198.png)
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/06/24/maxsportsworldthree307925-66799a798f535401493375.jpg)
Groupama-FDJ has just given him a great birthday. Lenny Martinez will celebrate his 21st birthday on the roads of the Tour de France on July 11. Best runner in his training since the start of 2024, the Nivernais was rewarded with a selection for the Grande Boucle, his team announced in a press release revealing the eight runners chosen.
Initially expected at the Vuelta in August, he will finally accompany David Gaudu (4th in the 2022 Tour, 9th in the 2023 Tour), once again designated leader for the general classification, but also the 2023 French champion Valentin Madouas and the young puncher Romain Grégoire ( 21 years old), stage winner on the Tour of the Basque Country this year.
Brilliant from his professional debut, with a red jersey worn in the 2023 Vuelta for his first Grand Tour, Lenny Martinez has already won five victories this season. At the end of his contract at the end of the season and close to leaving the team that trained him, he was nevertheless rewarded by his team, in need of victories this year and which has no longer won on the Tour from France since 2019.
To regain the laurels of the Grande Boucle, Groupama-FDJ promises not to slow down the offensive desires of Lenny Martinez and the other riders: “Our strategy is different from our traditional operating model with an entire team serving a leaderassured sports director Benoît Vaugrenard in the press release announcing the selection. We are evolving and this year, we will give the runners a lot of freedom. David Gaudu is the central element of our team, but the other seven riders are ready to compete for stage victories.”
Lenny Martinez will therefore also help David Gaudu in his quest for a good general classification, while the 4th in the 2022 Tour de France is experiencing a difficult season and recently tested positive for Covid-19 after finishing the Critérium du Dauphiné in 15th place. “Lenny Martinez will be a real support for David in the mountains, we are always stronger together than alone on a course designed for climbers”explained Benoît Vaugrenard.
The other neophyte of the team, Romain Grégoire, showed good form at the Critérium du Dauphiné (2nd of the third stage) and the French championships (8th), and will be one of the main weapons to play for victories of steps. The Swiss Stefan Küng could also shine in his favorite exercise, the time trial, like Valentin Madouas on hilly terrain. The Luxembourger Kevin Geniets and the French Quentin Pacher and Clément Russo will mainly support their leaders.