Lenny Martinez, the polka-dotted heir to the July 14th in the Tour de France

Did Marie-Noëlle Martinez have a premonition? Two days before the tenth stage of the Tour de France, won by the British Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), on Monday, July 14, the grandmother of Lenny Martinez, the Bahrain Victorious rider, told Le Monde : "I would so love to be able to attend the start in Ennezat," in Puy-de-Dôme. It must be said that the national holiday has a special flavor on the roads of the big circus. More than any other day, the public dreams of seeing one of its representatives triumph. Failing that, Marie-Noëlle Martinez, like the spectators, will have seen her grandson grab a distinctive jersey: the polka-dot jersey for best climber.

"Lenny was confident at the start. I got into the first climb and was cheering him on, it was incredible... I still can't believe it," she confided, her voice trembling, over the phone. Present in the breakaway for more than 120 of the 165 kilometers of the stage, her grandson chased the points awarded at the top of the difficulties that punctuated this first day in the mountains. The woman who, when he was younger, drove "her Nini" around in her Citroën C3 to take on the best road riders in Nièvre, was forced to follow the finale on screen. "I was doing the calculations for the classification, but I didn't really know if it was correct. Luckily, his father kept me informed," said this assiduous follower.

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