'The legs were on fire' - Lenny Martinez powers to victory on stage 5 of Paris-Nice as Matteo Jorgenson moves back into the race lead

Lenny Martinez sprinted to stage five victory at Paris-Nice, surging past Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson on the steep uphill drag at La Côte-Saint-André to take a first-ever stage win at the Race to the Sun.

The punishing ascent took its toll on the legs of the race leader, Jonas Vingegaard, who shipped time in the fight for overall victory in Nice on Sunday. The Dane was involved in what initially appeared to be an innocuous crash earlier in the stage, but he was seen clutching his wrist at the finish.

Fortunately for Visma-Lease a Bike, Jorgenson moved back into the race lead after first pulling on the leader’s jersey two days ago when the Dutch team triumphed in the team time trial. The American took third on the day with Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana) taking second.

"That was just incredible," Martinez said afterwards. "Everybody did a great job today. And on the final climb I knew that I needed to be up there with about 150 metres to go. I had to go for it, I accelerated and there was soon a big difference. It's incredible, I can’t believe it."

"The legs were on fire," he added. "For the final stages I wanted to make sure I was up there, and I wanted to try and do my best. I said to myself that today I really had to go for the win, I knew it was possible. I really believed it and it was brilliant for the team, just amazing.

"I haven’t won for a long time, so I’m super happy to win today. It's an incredible feeling to win here at Paris-Nice with my new team, I’m super happy."

Meanwhile Vingegaard was met with concerned looks from Visma-Lease a Bike soigneurs as they assessed the damage after his earlier crash. The 28-year-old was wrapped in warm clothing and safely escorted back to the sanctuary of the Visma team bus for further checks.

How it happened

Stage five was, on paper, seen as being a day for the breakaway with a series of short, sharp climbs on the cards for the peloton between Saint-Just-en-Chevalet and La Côte-Saint-André, including a category two uphill kick at the finish.

Similarly to the previous day, the stage got underway in cold and damp conditions with snow falling in patches on the course. Two men were away for much of the stage, Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Frenchman Thibaud Gruel from the Groupama FDJ team, before they were later joined by Swift’s teammate, Tobias Foss who was on the attack once more.

Jonas Vingegaard spent a large part of the afternoon at the back of the peloton after a small crash earlier in the stage which involved a bike change for the race leader. Visma-Lease a Bike did, however, have Matteo Jorgenson well placed at the head of the main field.

Foss eventually pushed on, quickly dropping Swift and Gruel as he looked to establish a solid advantage ahead of the final two climbs. The Norwegian soon had a gap of a minute on the peloton, with Swift and Gruel hovering in no man’s land behind him.

With 17 kilometres to go Foss was onto the penultimate climb - a category three ascent, the Côte d'Arzay - which featured a 15% gradient at its steepest point. Tudor Pro Cycling led the bunch into it with Matteo Trentin pushing the pace. Julian Alaphilippe briefly jumped from his wheel, looking to tease an attack ahead of the ramp to the finish. The former road world champion’s dig saw Foss’ advantage almost halved.

Foss was still up the road as the race tore past the ten kilometre to go point, although it seemed only a matter of time before he was caught. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was leading the peloton once more, setting a brutal pace with the aim of teeing up Mattias Skjelmose on the ramp up to the line. Visma-Lease a Bike eventually took over from the Dane and a huge turn from three of the Dutch team’s riders soon brought Foss back into the fold.

With one and a half kilometres to go the riders were onto the climb to the finish. Visma continued to lead the group with Jorgenson and Vingegaard gathering pace as the gradient began to bite. Sensing Vingegaard was under pressure, Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates) kicked the leaders on looking to do some damage. Fortunately for Visma, Jorgenson was lodged onto his fellow American’s wheel and rode himself back into the race lead.

Jorgenson pulled a small group away from the select lead group looking to salvage the lead for his team. However, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) surged past him in the final few hundred metres to seal an impressive stage win.

Results

2025 Paris-Nice stage five, Saint-Just-en-Chevalet > La Côte-Saint-André (203 km)

1. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, in 4:36:23
2. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +3s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike,
4. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana Team, +1:24
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
6. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +7s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +11s
8. Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +16s
9. Magnus Sheffield (Usa) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
10. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +18s

General classification after stage five

1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 16:27:26
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +22s
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +36s
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +40s
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +55s
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +57s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +1:05
8. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:14
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +1:22
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana Team, +1:24