
Home expectations for fast progress from 21-year-old French climber Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) received a major boost at Paris-Nice on Thursday thanks to his first-ever World Tour win on the brutally steep finish of La Côte-Saint-Andre.
While it's far too soon to say if French fans' hopes that the country's lengthy quest for a successor to former greats like Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon will finally be fulfilled, Martinez's series of flamboyant mountain triumphs is certainly giving them renewed reasons to dream.