{"id":245433,"date":"2025-11-05T14:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T14:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/245433\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T14:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T14:24:13","slug":"i-know-i-didnt-intend-to-cheat-lenny-martinez-breaks-silence-on-tour-de-france-sticky-bottle-storm-and-looks-ahead-to-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/245433\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI know I didn\u2019t intend to cheat\u201d \u2014 Lenny Martinez breaks silence on Tour de France sticky-bottle storm and looks ahead to 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re lacking in clear thinking when you\u2019re making a big effort. People don\u2019t understand that aspect. Many people watch the Tour de France and think that simply hanging on is cheating, even though you\u2019re allowed four seconds. In any case, I know I didn\u2019t intend to cheat. I\u2019m at peace with myself. As for Thibaut Pinot, I don\u2019t have much to say. I don\u2019t know why he reacted that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

2026 still unclear \u2014 and praise for rising French talent<\/p>\n

Despite winning four races in his first season with Bahrain Victorious, including Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine stages, Martinez fell short of securing a Tour stage or the polka dot jersey. He remains unsure whether next year will bring a GC attempt or another polka-dot campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t know what the objectives will be for the Tour de France in 2026. Of course, winning a stage will be an objective, but regarding the general classification, I don\u2019t know yet, we\u2019ll see little by little with the team and the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Martinez may no longer carry the mantle of France\u2019s lone great hope, he is enthusiastic about the rise of Decathlon-AG2R\u2019s Paul Seixas<\/a>, who stunned many in 2025 with bronze at the European Championships and seventh at Il Lombardia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite impressed by what he\u2019s doing. At his age, frankly, he\u2019s at an extraordinary level, and I think he has enormous potential in the Grand Tours,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cIn 2026, he can aim for something in the Tour de France. Seriously, given his level this year, finishing 7th in Il Lombardia, he can win a stage.”<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, he\u2019ll have improved with another six months of experience, and I think he has what it takes to compete in the Tour de France. But it\u2019s his decision. If he wants to do the Tour, he should do it. If he doesn’t want to and prefers to do a Vuelta, then he should do a Vuelta first.\u201d<\/p>\n

From sticky-bottle scrutiny to a fierce fight for French cycling\u2019s future, Martinez\u2019s words underline a rider determined to move forward \u2014 and one keeping a close eye on the country\u2019s next potential superstar.<\/p>\n

\"Martinez\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYou\u2019re lacking in clear thinking when you\u2019re making a big effort. People don\u2019t understand that aspect. Many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-245433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}