![\"Lenny](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lenny-martinez-beats-jonas-vingegaard-at-paris-nice-69cbaac4d2758.png@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nice. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve managed to follow him,\u201d he said after holding Pogacar\u2019s wheel on the slopes of Ovronnaz. \u201cIt\u2019s always strange to be on his wheel. Even though I\u2019m a pro rider, I still watch him on TV and think it must be crazy to be there with him, and that was the case today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matching the best on the climb<\/p>\n
The key moment of the stage came when Pogacar accelerated on the steep gradients, immediately forcing a selection among the general classification contenders. Martinez was the only rider able to respond straight away, a clear sign of both his form and his growing confidence at this level. Florian Lipowitz would later return to the front, but the initial move underlined Martinez\u2019s ability to live with the very best climber in the race.<\/p>\n
He explained that his condition early in the race helped him make that effort. \u201cIt was the first stage back after a break, I felt quite fresh and that\u2019s why I still had something left in the final,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That effort ultimately came at a cost when the stage came down to a sprint. \u201cIn the sprint I was completely dead, I had nothing left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fine margins in a four-man finish<\/p>\n
The stage was decided by a four-rider sprint between Pogacar, Lipowitz, Martinez and Jorgen Nordhagen, with the Slovenian taking the win.<\/p>\n
Martinez admitted he was unsure of his exact placing immediately after the finish. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I finished second or third, it was a photo finish with Florian I think,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it was a nice first stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
A result that still shifts expectations<\/p>\n
Even without the victory, the performance carries weight. To follow Pogacar on a climb like Ovronnaz and remain in contention for the win reinforces Martinez\u2019s status as one of the most dangerous climbers in the race. More importantly, it places him directly in the conversation alongside the riders who have defined the season so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I\u2019m surprised,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew I had recovered well after Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, but I expected the first stages to be a bit difficult while getting back into rhythm. But to follow Tadej like that, I surprised myself a bit on the climb.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lenny Martinez beat Jonas Vingegaard at Paris-Nice earlier this year<\/p>\n
Insight into racing Pogacar<\/p>\n
Riding alongside Pogacar also offered a rare glimpse into how the Slovenian operates in the heat of competition. Martinez described a calm presence, even as the race reached its most intense moments. \u201cHe was calm, it was fine,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it was my turn to go through, honestly it\u2019s not that I didn\u2019t want to, but I was really at my limit in the final. I was completely dead, and he didn\u2019t get annoyed either. So yeah, it was good, he\u2019s pretty chill.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opportunity to complete that early-season double over both Pogacar and Vingegaard slipped away in the final metres, but the broader takeaway was clear. Martinez has shown he can match the very best when it matters, and that alone reshapes expectations for what could follow over the rest of the week.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIt was nice. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve managed to follow him,\u201d he said after holding Pogacar\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":927333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,31323,110651,198089,79,16152,246619,16,15],"class_list":["post-927332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-lenny-martinez","tag-paris-nice","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tour-de-romandie","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116490555062068633","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}