![\"Martin\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/martin-687100d2744d1.jpg@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The 2025 Il Lombardia marked his fifth appearance at the Race of the Falling Leaves, and for the fifth time, he was unable to factor in the race\u2019s final hour. His DNF in Bergamo was also his first all season. Coming just weeks after returning from injury, it reinforced the reality that the crash in Spain was a season-defining \u2014 and perhaps career-shaping \u2014 moment.<\/p>\n
Fighting back \u2013 but not at full power<\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s decision to continue racing into October, starting with the Coppa Agostoni and ending at the Veneto Classic, was about more than form or results. It was about taking control of his narrative \u2014 and not allowing the Vuelta crash to be the final word.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave me a target, something to motivate me to get back on the bike,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not at a great level right now, but at least I\u2019ve resumed a normal calendar and can take an off-season break at the same time as everyone else. It means I don\u2019t have to start training again too early in the winter \u2014 otherwise, it can feel endless.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effort was clearly more symbolic than competitive. \u201cEven though I\u2019m a fighter,\u201d Martin conceded, \u201cthere was just no way I could finish Lombardy in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n
His decision to race on, however, wasn\u2019t just about fitness; it was about reclaiming rhythm, routine, and psychological stability \u2014 not allowing trauma to dictate the off-season. \u201cThese races at least stop me from dwelling on the crash all winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Martin in action at La Vuelta before his stage 2 crash<\/p>\n
A season in two halves \u2014 early promise, late frustration<\/p>\n
The 2025 season promised something of a renaissance for Martin. After a long stint with Cofidis, his move to Groupama\u2013FDJ was seen as both a return (he was a stagiaire at FDJ in 2014) and a reset.<\/p>\n
The early months were turbulent, with a knee injury stalling his momentum. But by April, signs of form began to emerge. He took two victories in as many days at the Classic Grand Besan\u00e7on Doubs and Tour du Jura, both in the Franche-Comt\u00e9 region \u2014 a hotbed for climbing specialists. He backed that up with a top\u201110 overall at the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 and 12th at the Itzulia Basque Country, suggesting he was building toward a solid Grand Tour campaign. \u201cThankfully, I had those two wins in Franche-Comt\u00e9 \u2014 there were a few bright spots in that period. That\u2019s when I was going best. The Dauphin\u00e9 was decent too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tour de France, though, brought mixed fortunes. Sixteenth overall was respectable, but Martin was held back by underlying health issues. \u201cI was held back by biological values that were a bit low \u2014 especially iron levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
His season \u2014 and perhaps his confidence \u2014 then unravelled at the Vuelta. Just two stages in, on a damp descent, he crashed heavily and abandoned. The diagnosis: two fractured vertebrae.<\/p>\n
The rest of the season became a balancing act \u2014 managing expectations, regaining fitness, and processing trauma. \u201cI never felt I could fully express my potential at any point this season. It\u2019s been quite frustrating. If you just look at the results on paper, it\u2019s fairly disappointing \u2014 one of my weakest seasons, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team support and looking ahead to 2026<\/p>\n
Despite the setbacks, one positive stands out in Martin’s reflections: how well he integrated into his new team. \u201cI\u2019m really pleased with the change and how warmly I was welcomed. I feel good in the team. After my crash, I felt genuinely supported \u2014 and it\u2019s easy to feel sidelined in moments like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That feeling of belonging has helped shape his outlook for 2026. Determined to avoid stagnation, Martin is considering beginning his season at the Tour Down Under in January \u2014 a race he\u2019s never ridden. \u201cI\u2019d like to shake up the winter routine. I\u2019m seriously considering riding the Tour Down Under \u2014 I\u2019ve always wanted to experience Australia at least once. It\u2019s not confirmed yet, but there\u2019s a good chance I\u2019ll go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he\u2019s not planning a revolution in his calendar. The monuments remain non-negotiable. \u201cThere are races I\u2019m really attached to, like the Tour de France and Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge. In 2026, what I really hope is to get back to the level I had earlier this year \u2014 especially in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
He will head into the off-season with more questions than answers: about his body, his recovery, and what level he can realistically return to in 2026. Yet, amid the frustration and uncertainty, there remains the quiet defiance of a rider unwilling to let a crash define him.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2025 Il Lombardia marked his fifth appearance at the Race of the Falling Leaves, and for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-216756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}