'Bit of a stupid move' – Brennan stronger than mistake at Tour de Pologne

The finish line of stage 5 of the Tour de Pologne was in the shadow of Zakopane’s imposing Wielka Krokiew ski jumping hill, site of World Championships, World Cups and even the odd Papal Mass over the years.

On Friday afternoon, it formed the backdrop to a striking victory from Matthew Brennan, who took a considerable leap of faith by opening his sprint with more than 300m to go on the uphill finishing straight to claim a dominant victory.

Most riders would have faded long before the line, but there was a hint of Giuseppe Saronni’s immortal ‘fucilata’ at the Goodwood World Championships as Brennan ripped clear here. Perhaps it was only fitting that Saronni’s old sparring partner Francesco Moser was on hand as a guest in Zakopane to witness it.

“To be honest, I think it was a bit of a stupid move,” Brennan smiled in the mixed zone afterwards. “But once you commit to something like that, you’ve just got to go. I kicked and then I saw the 300m to go sign, and I thought ‘Ah, this is a long way on an uphill finish.’ But I’d been working on some 20-second stuff so I knew I could just keep pushing to the line. 

“And when you’re quite frustrated by the build-up of a few things in the last few days, it really kind of helps you push on a little bit more. I’m really happy to get this win today.”

Brennan was, in essence, stronger than his mistake, always a useful weapon in your armoury at this level of the sport. It helped, too, that his coaching team at Visma | Lease a Bike regularly compelled him to make precisely this kind of effort, even if he couldn’t ever recall sprinting from that far out in a race before Friday.

“Today was the first one, I think – but in training they love to do them,” Brennan said. “It just helps build up that capacity. Finally, I could put that pain from training into something useful today.”

Brennan had arrived at this Tour de Pologne with high expectations after a fine opening half to 2025, which was garlanded by stage wins at the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie, as well as a most assured debut at Paris-Roubaix. For most neo-professionals, the year would already be a success, but Brennan didn’t see it quite that way. He was in Poland to win, and the opening four days had brought frustration.

“I’m very happy to get to the finish line first, so the pressure’s off,” said Brennan, who had to withstand a demanding afternoon in the Tatra Mountains in order to earn the right to sprint for the win here. 

“I was surprised there was quite a lot of guys still left. It was a pretty hard day today, in my opinion. It could be just that I was feeling rubbish, but I remember looking back and thinking there’s a lot more guys than I thought there would be. Then I saw a few sprinters popping up and I thought, ‘Ok, this is interesting.’” 

The 20-year-old’s nine victories so far in 2025 make him Visma’s most successful rider, a scenario few could have envisaged at the beginning of the year. Brennan, who raced in Visma’s Continental squad last season, has adapted rapidly to racing at the top level.

“It’s all part of a development curve,” he said. “The team are really focused on trying to make me the best rider I can be and also the best person off the bike, and I think they’re really combining those two things. I’m happy to race, but I’m also able to switch off from racing so I can go again. I think that’s been a big part of this season.”

It would be wrong, however, to suggest that Brennan is purely a product of the Visma system. His teenage weekends were spent travelling back and forth across the North Sea to race in Belgium and the Netherlands with the Fensham Howes-MAS Design junior squad, run by Giles Pidcock, father of Tom.

“My weekend would just be drive to Belgium, race, drive home, school in the morning,” Brennan said. “Giles and Sonia, Tom Pidcock’s mum and dad, they drove the six of us around Belgium, Holland and Europe. We had a great time, and I think things like that helped push me into a team that has allowed me to prosper in the way that I have.”