Groupama-FDJ’s staff supervisor Marc Madiot has defined that their sudden resolution to ship massively gifted younger climber Lenny Martinez to the 2024 Tour de France is partly as a result of he feels the race will probably be determined in “three or 4 days”, and riders like Martinez will be capable of take benefit.
Martinez, who will flip 21 throughout the Tour, will probably be making his debut within the Grand Boucle alongside established GC chief and teammate David Gaudu. But in contrast to Gaudu, he won’t be concentrating on the general.
Explaining his comparatively late addition to the Groupama lineup, Madiot advised L’Équipe on Tuesday that he expects that the Tour de France will see main GC favorite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) launch early, highly effective assaults to ‘blow out’ defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) earlier than the Dane – lastly within the Tour after an extended spell away from racing because of extreme accidents from a crash in April – can get again on phrases.
Should that occur, riders like Martinez with no GC curiosity would be capable of profit from what Madiot referred to as ‘present vouchers’ within the third week when UAE, controlling the race, will seemingly be permitting breakaways to go clear.
“The Tour will probably be over in three or 4 days,” Madiot stated to the French newspaper.
“Pogačar will break issues aside and blow out Vingegaard. In his place, that’s what I’d do to make sure he [Vingegaard] doesn’t get again on prime type.”
“So within the third week, identical to within the Giro d’Italia,” the place Pogačar crushed the opposition, “they’ll be handing out ‘exit present vouchers’”- vouchers given to festival-goers after the final concert events, and right here which means stage wins for breakaways.
Under such circumstances, Madiot stated, a rider like Martinez was preferrred for getting in breakaways, whereas Gaudu, a former top-five finisher on GC, might proceed to concentrate on the general.
“And why not [send Martinez to the Tour]?” Madiot requested rhetorically. “He was in our lengthy listing that we despatched to ASO.
“Race applications aren’t set in stone and we mentioned it with the sports activities administrators and with Lenny, who stated he needed to go to the Tour. That was the best way the cookie crumbled.”
This season Martínez has gone from energy to energy. He gained his first race of the yr, the Classic Var, and has gone on to take an additional 5, essentially the most high-profile being the Trofeo Laigueglia 1.Pro race in Italy, in addition to taking an eighth place within the ultra-tough Strade Bianche.
Apart from being essentially the most profitable rider in Groupama-FDJ, with six wins of their complete of 11, in stage racing, he has carved out an impressively constant run of placings regardless of his relative inexperience. These vary from second in O Gran Camiño behind Vingegaard to seventh general within the Volta a Catalunya and eighth within the Tour de Romandie.
Even although Martinez fell off the tempo within the Tour de Suisse general and completed thirty third, he nonetheless took an encouraging sixth within the ultimate time trial, after having fun with a spell on the prime of the leaders board for provisional greatest time.
“We obtained the inexperienced gentle from the physician, who stated that he had recovered, it was all going wonderful for him. He hasn’t raced a lot,” Madiot argued.
“He’s gained lots” – in 33 days of competitors thus far in 2024 – “however he’s not raced a lot.”
“Then the Tour de Suisse is one factor, the Tour de France is one other. If he finally ends up being within the gruppetto, it’s not so severe, we simply need him to strike some excessive notes.”
This season Martínez was initially all the way down to go to the Vuelta a Espana for a second time, a race the place he made historical past final yr throughout its first week by changing into its youngest ever chief when aged 20 years and two months. He held the highest spot on GC for 2 days.
Martínez will not be fully dominated out for the Vuelta this yr, Madiot stated in one other interview, with cyclismactu.net, including that “We’ll take it step-by-step.”
Groupama-FDJ for the 2024 Tour de France
- David Gaudu
- Kevin Geniets
- Romain Grégoire
- Stefan Kung
- Lenny Martinez
- Valentin Madouas
- Quentin Pacher
- Clement Russo
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