Three of the stickiest bottles in the Tour de France buried Lenny Martinez’s hopes of wearing the iconic polka dots in Paris.
Martinez was docked 8 climbing points, 15 UCI points, and slapped with a 200 CHF fine after cameras caught him taking three way-too-long tows from his Bahrain-Victorious team car Thursday.
The“great hope of French cycling” rolled out for Thursday’s calf-snapper stage to Col de la Loze level on mountains points with Tadej Pogačar and decked out in polka everything.
He had one mission – mop up mountain points and push past Pogačar in the classification.
A career-topping trip to the Tour de France podium was at stake.
But when the spindly climber was dropped off the back of the break on the Col du Glandon, his mountain mission looked in peril.
But like so many times in the Tour de France, sticky bottles saved the day.
Lenny Martinez loses 8 KOM points, 15 UCI points, a 10 second penalty and fined 200CHF for his sticky bottle(s) on Stage 18 at the Tour de France. #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/qDv8QMKsm5
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 24, 2025
Three of the most blatant tows from the team car pulled Martinez back to the group in time for him to bag 20 mountain points and “virtually” top the mountain classification.
And as if that wasn’t audacious enough, Martinez didn’t even seem so thirsty.
Those drinks didn’t even make it out of the team car.
Great hope of French cycling comes unstuck
Sticky bottles are a common “thing” at the Tour de France.
But there are varying levels of adhesiveness.
A small social media explosion meant that there was no chance Martinez’s superglue-tight bottles would go without sanction.
Martinez and his team director were later cited under “irregular feed” regulations.
That triple sticky bottle by Lenny Martinez should 100% be penalised.
Bro threw the gel straight back into the car. #TDF2025
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) July 24, 2025
France’s former “King Climber” is now third in the ranking behind Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, and way out of range of the polka podium.
It’s a sour end to a Tour de France that will give French fans hope that Martinez can deliver on the hype that’s bubbling around his slender shoulders. Two top-10 finishes and countless kilometers in the break give promise.
Maybe next time around, Martinez and his team staff will remember to clean that pesky residue off their bidons before they pass them out.