It was the first pro victory for the 19-year-old Frenchman Lenny Martinez in the CIC – Mont Ventoux one-day race, beating Michael Woods, Cristian Rodriguez and Simon Carr in a steep uphill sprint.
CIC – Mont Ventoux 2023 profile by La Flamme Rouge
Due to windy weather, the course was shortened from 153 km to 98.3 km and the finish went up the shallow side of the Mont Ventoux meaning that there would not be big gaps and the tempo would be slow until the final steep kilometres.
The tempo until the final six kilometres was slow and it was enough with 5.3 ᵉW/Kg to hold onto the big peloton until Chalet Reynard. The final six kilometres were the same as on the famous side of Mont Ventoux where Jonas Vingegaard in the 2021 Tour dropped Tadej Pogačar. Groupama-FDJ were pacing hard with less than 6 km to go for their leader Lenny Martinez. Arkea-Samsic rider Cristián Rodríguez attacked and Martinez followed him with Michael Woods and Simon Carr bridging the gap later. The tempo was high enough in the peloton for Chris Froome to drop.
In the final metres up the steep ramp to the finish, lightweight Lenny Martinez was stronger than his more experienced rivals and won his first pro race at age 19. The competition was not anywhere near Criterium du Dauphiné level where Martinez also finished 12th on the Col de la Croix de Fer stage but it is an impressive win against good climbers.
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It was a one-day race and the easy side of Mont Ventoux. Lenny Martinez set a new record on Chalet Reynard – Mont Ventoux segment (6.11 km, 7.84%), beating Jonas Vingegaard’s 2021 effort by 20 seconds. Martinez did the segment at 16:30 min with 6.24 ᵉW/Kg. Martinez’s debut Grand Tour will be the 2023 La Vuelta where he will have a chance to prove himself against top competition.