Lenny Martinez was not disqualified for the most obvious attempt at cheating on the Tour de France. He will instead be docked just eight points in the best climber classification for his sticky bottle shenanigans.
Fellow rider Thibaut Pinot was not pleased with the incident.
Martinez remains in third place for best climber on the Tour de France behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard with only three (really two and a half) stages to go so nothing really changed. Cycling fans are not pleased by the decision.
What is a sticky bottle in cycling?
In competitive cycling, the term “sticky bottle” refers to a controversial tactic used by riders to gain a short burst of speed and briefly rest the legs. It is considered illegal if it extends beyond reason.
Cyclists often need to replace and/or replenish their water bottles during a race. They are allowed to approach their respective team support car to make the exchange as the car drives alongside them. They are not allowed to grab onto the car or use the car as relief.
The “sticky bottle” serves as something of a loophole to that rule. Riders will hold on to the bottle during the exchange for a moment longer than necessary instead of immediately releasing the bottle, which gives them a slight boost from the momentum of the moving vehicle.
It becomes illegal if the water bottle exchange and subsequent “sticky bottle” extends beyond the reasonable expectation. The unwritten limit typically hovers around two or three seconds but race organizers are in charge of the judgement call. They may or may not choose to issue a punishment depending on whether the water bottle pass was egregious.
Lenny Martinez got caught cheating on the Tour de France.
Stage 18 of the 21-stage bike race featured a brutal 171.5-kilometer climb through the mountains of the Pyrenees and the Alps. It gained approximately 5,450 meters of elevation— more than 3.3 miles.
Lenny Martinez needed to swap out his water bottle with just over 100 kilometers to go. It was still pretty early in the stage on the initial ascent.
His team drove up to help him out. He grabbed three different things from the vehicle but kept just two.
In doing so, Martinez was caught attempting an obvious “sticky bottle” maneuver— three times. I legitimately laughed out loud at the failed attempt(s) to hide his extended bottle grab(s).
Thibaut Pinot thought it was gross.
Tour de France organizers let Martinez off easy. I would’ve issued an immediate disqualification. His race would’ve been over as soon as he crossed the line to finish Stage 18 if it was up to me. But it’s not!
Instead, he is docked only eight points in the best climber classification. Lenny Martinez essentially got a slap on the wrist for his painfully obvious attempt to cheat via “sticky bottle” boost— three times.