The 2025 Tour de Romandie, currently underway, is already proving to be one of the most exciting races of the season.
It all started with a thrilling prologue, where the leader’s jersey was decided by a mere 30 hundredths of a second—an early sign of how close and hard-fought this race would be. Then came Brennan’s powerful sprint, a raw display of strength that turned heads. Shortly after, Italian rider Lorenzo Fortunato claimed a brilliant victory: he dropped his breakaway companions at the perfect moment—like a pheasant darting away in the final kilometer. The stage had been grueling from the start, and that final effort, capitalizing on collective fatigue, earned him a decisive 50-meter gap he maintained to the line.
In the following stage, it was Remco Evenepoel who lit things up with relentless attacks and a punishing pace. But the Belgian still doesn’t look to be at his best, and it was Frenchman Alex Baudin who survived the chaos and claimed a solo victory at the end of a tense, spiky stage.
Then came the queen stage, with the seemingly endless climb to Thyon—over an hour of uninterrupted ascending. It was here that Lenny Martinez confirmed his place among the brightest talents in modern cycling. His win was a tactical masterpiece—and that might sound strange after 20 km of climbing, but it’s the truth.
Martinez seems to have learned from the mistakes made at Paris–Nice. This time, he stayed calm, composed, and quietly tucked in behind the leaders until João Almeida launched his move. That’s when the true battle began—a classic uphill duel that any cycling fan or analyst would appreciate.
In these moments, psychological tactics come into play. One approach is to assert your strength by riding just off the wheel, slightly overlapping the rival’s rear hub. It’s a technique Lance Armstrong once favored—an intimidating display of dominance.
But Martinez chose a different path. He stayed behind, sometimes even a meter back, giving the impression he was struggling. Almeida kept pushing, trying to drop him. Yet when you’ve been climbing for an hour and your rival is still there, doubts begin to creep in. Almeida eventually slowed down and tried to get Martinez to take the front. But the Frenchman was clever—he kept playing the game, pretending to be on the limit… until 250 meters from the finish.
That’s when he struck. Martinez launched his sprint and dove into the final corner first, hugging the inside line to prevent Almeida from sneaking through. It cost him a bit of speed, but it blocked the Portuguese rider completely. Almeida, likely fatigued and not fully focused, failed to open up his line to reaccelerate out of the curve, and in the remaining 100 meters, he simply couldn’t close the gap.
The real difference? Knowledge of the finish. Martinez knew exactly how to handle that final turn. Almeida didn’t. And it’s amazing to think that in today’s hyper-analyzed, performance-driven cycling, a single corner—after 20 kilometers of brutal climbing at over 2,100 meters of elevation—can still decide the outcome.
Now we look ahead to the final time trial, with Martinez leading the GC, Lorenzo Fortunato just 2 seconds behind, and João Almeida at 3. What a show this is turning out to be.
