'I think I've taken a big step, and there are still others to take' – Lenny Martinez confirms 2026 schedule following breakthrough season

French talent Lenny Martinez has unveiled his racing programme for the 2026 season, with the Tour de France his main goal amid a largely unchanged set of races.

In 2025, the 22-year-old took another step up, winning stages at Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, and the Critérium du Dauphiné, before taking on the Tour de France, where he raced in the breakaway four times. He'll take on many of the same races again next season, though with a new lead-in to the Tour in the summer.

"I really liked my programme," Martinez told L'Equipe while confirming that he'll kick off his season on home ground in France at the Classic Var (February 21) and Tour des Alpes Maritimes (February 22).

Paris-Nice (March 8-15) and the Tour de Romandie (April 29-May 4) will fill out his spring along with La Flèche Wallonne (April 23), though several Spanish races he took on in 2025 – including the Volta a la Comunitat Valencia and Volta a Catalunya – go unmentioned.

"The only change is the Tour de Suisse instead of the Dauphiné. The team staff suggested to me; they wanted a change, and it's always nice to see something different," Martinez said.

He told L'Equipe that he was more than pleased with his 2025 campaign, a year in which he won his first trio of wins at WorldTour level, as well as finishing fifth overall at Catalunya and second at Romandie.

"Every year I say this, but every year I think I can't quite grasp what I've accomplished. I wanted to win in the WorldTour, and now I've won three times at that level," he said.

"Winning a stage of Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné in my lifetime is already… When I was younger, I watched the riders who managed it; now, it's me. I think I've taken a big step, and there are still others to take."

Despite the wins, however, he noted that he needs to work on his consistency in the future.

"I think it comes with age. I'm still waiting. I know that when I'm having a good day, I can be very strong, but there are days when I feel like it's just not working at all – like the bike isn't moving," he said.

"Honestly, it's always been like that. Even in the junior category, I could finish 100th on Saturday and then be incredibly strong on Sunday and win."

"It's purely physical because this year, I realised that even though I was super motivated and super happy on the team bus, on the first climb, I felt completely useless. There were days, like during the Dauphiné, when I felt really sick; I just didn't feel right. Mentally, I didn't want to do the stage because I felt so tired. And in the end, I won [stage 8]."

Despite his relative lack of consistency racing day to day, Martinez insisted that he's still keeping GC racing in his mind alongside scoring stage victories. He acknowledged that the latter "gives a lot more emotion" to fans, but stated that he isn't racing for other people.

"For now, I'm trying to do both. I think it's possible to do both," he said. "But finishing eighth, fifth, sixth in the Tour, and every day coming in between – that gives me a lot less pleasure than seeing a guy in the breakaway and thinking, 'Damn, he might win today.'

"I know I give a lot more emotion to the people I know by winning races than by competing for the overall classification. Ultimately, I know I'm not going to ride a bike for what people prefer, but for now, I like what I'm doing."