{"id":108843,"date":"2025-09-02T09:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108843\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T09:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:56:10","slug":"20-year-old-brennan-poised-to-continue-winning-rout-at-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108843\/","title":{"rendered":"20-Year-Old Brennan Poised to Continue Winning Rout at Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018He is very special\u2019: Brennan has moved to center of Visma’s ambitions in rookie WorldTour season, and he’s not even started training like a pro.<\/p>\n

\"Brennan\"<\/p>\n

Updated September 1, 2025 08:33AM<\/p>\n

Only Tadej Poga\u010dar, Tim Merlier, and Mads Pedersen have won more times this year than WorldTour rookie Matthew Brennan.<\/a><\/p>\n

And there could be more to come from Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s British bulldozer.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old is well placed to add a couple more victories to his sensational 11-win season<\/a> this week at his home race the Tour of Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew is a very special guy. There\u2019s a lot more to discover in him,\u201d Visma-Lease a Bike<\/a> head of development Robert de Groot recently told Het Laatste Nieuws.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe isn\u2019t a pure sprinter, but he\u2019s very fast. Some call him \u2018the new Sagan,\u2019 others \u2018the new Cavendish.\u2019 But we prefer not to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan dovetails with Olav Kooij this week for the \u201cKiller Bees\u201d at the six-day British tour.<\/p>\n

Visma\u2019s deadly double is poised to dominate a race loaded with at least three sprint finishes and few first-class fast-finishing rivals.<\/p>\n

Can Brennan claim a 12th pro victory in what\u2019s only his first season in the WorldTour?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in the cards.<\/p>\n

Van Aert hails apprentice Brennan: \u2018Barely 20 but races like he\u2019s 30\u2019
\n\"\"Visma-Lease a Bike is going slowly with Brennan, who is signed through 2027. (Photo: Federico Gambarini\/picture alliance via Getty Images )<\/p>\n

Brennan lands into Britain hot off the back of collecting two more wins while undergoing \u201cThe Van Aert Finishing School\u201d last month at the Deutschland Tour.<\/p>\n

Wout van Aert<\/a> played mentor for Brennan last month in Germany.<\/p>\n

The Belgian superstar was so impressed he stamped his young teammate with the official \u201cWout Seal of Approval.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s barely 20, but he already races and talks like he\u2019s 30,\u201d Van Aert said of Brennan. \u201cI already have the feeling he has little to learn. His greatest strength is that he remains calm and cool in all situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 20, I\u2019d ridden the Tour of Belgium once, at best,\u201d Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad<\/a>. \u201cI was happy to just stay on the wheel in the final ten kilometers at that age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know young guys grow up much faster these days. But this one here is very special. That much is certain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beating Milan and breaking records: \u2018This gives me a lot of confidence\u2019
\n\"21Brennan beat Tour de France green jersey Milan at the Tour of Germany. (Photo: Federico Gambarini\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brennan became the youngest ever male rider to rack 10 pro wins in August when he won the first road stage in Deutschland.<\/p>\n

At 20 years and 15 days old, he was two weeks quicker than the previous fastest Remco Evenepoel.<\/p>\n

And while doubters might point out that Brennan\u2019s only won four times at the WorldTour level, he\u2019s got an ace up his sleeve.<\/p>\n

This tough-guy classics-style fastman beat Tour de France green jersey<\/a> and pure watt-monster Jonathan Milan to the line the day he reached double figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch watching the Tour de France. You see world-class sprinters like Jonathan Milan fighting it out there. For me, it was a great benchmark to go up against him here at the Deutschland Tour,\u201d Brennan said last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeating a sprinter of his caliber gives me a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can only beat who\u2019s at the start line, at the races you\u2019re selected for.<\/p>\n

Brennan just beat one of the best.<\/p>\n

From \u2018Mini Roubaix\u2019 junior to long-term WorldTour contract for Brennan
\n\"BrennanBrennan went deep into the final with the cobblestone bigs at his debut Paris-Roubaix. (Photo: Luc Claessen\/Getty Images )<\/p>\n

Brennan has been creeping toward the center of Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s ambitions since early this season.<\/p>\n

He won the \u201cMini-Roubaix\u201d GP Denain<\/a> in March on a temporary promotion from the junior team and played \u201cMVP\u201d to Van Aert at the senior Paris-Roubaix a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

Brennan is now set to ride with Van Aert at Visma-Lease a Bike through 2027 with a freshly inked WorldTour contract.<\/p>\n

It will be intriguing to see how Visma-Lease a Bike plays Kooij and Brennan at the Tour of Britain, starting Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Kooij and Brennan both top the sprinter pack above Alexander Kristoff, Alberto Daniese, and U.S. talent Luke Lamperti.<\/p>\n

On paper, pure speedster Kooij is better suited to the dead-flat opening stages across eastern England.<\/p>\n

But on the team bus, the Dutchman\u2019s reported move next year to Decathlon-CMA ACM may cause complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are going really well so far,\u201d Brennan said last month in Germany. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to develop as a rider again this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be surrounded by experienced guys like Steven Kruijswijk and Wout. They teach us younger riders a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope to continue this trend in the Tour of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s not fully developed yet \u2026 he\u2019s not even been to altitude\u2019
\n\"\"Visma-Lease a Bike is going slowly with Brennan, who is signed through 2027. (Photo: Christian Kaspar-Bartke\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brennan might not be bothered if he doesn\u2019t win a 12th pro victory in Britain.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got time on his side, and he and Visma-Lease a Bike know it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat guy isn\u2019t training like a pro yet,\u201d said team development chief De Groot. \u201cWhen he came to us as a junior, he trained 10 hours a week, and today he\u2019s still not at 25 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wouldn\u2019t work anyway \u2013 his body wouldn\u2019t be able to handle it. We\u2019re taking it one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike is going slowly-slowly with Brennan, even though the Brit\u2019s raging fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot we don\u2019t know about his limits, but Matthew isn\u2019t fully developed yet,\u201d De Groot said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, he\u2019s never been to altitude camp. He doesn\u2019t weigh his food yet, either. That will come later. For now, he\u2019s still following his gut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised to see Brennan\u2019s gut instincts deliver him to win no.12 and maybe more this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018He is very special\u2019: Brennan has moved to center of Visma’s ambitions in rookie WorldTour season, and he’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,45284,101,52813,52814,52815,52816,45288,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-108843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-matthew-brennan","tag-tag-tour-of-britain","tag-tag-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-tag-wout-van-aert","tag-type-article","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}