Brennan reveals how Visma's red ambitions helped him claim first Vuelta stage win

Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike) explained how Visma | Lease a Bike’s plan on stage 2 of the Vuelta a España was built around Wout van Aert’s bid for the red jersey, while the young Briton waited in reserve for the sprint that ultimately delivered his first Grand Tour stage victory.

“We started off with the ambition of Wout trying to get into the red jersey today,” explained Brennan post-race.

Van Aert started the stage in eighth overall, nine seconds behind race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) after the opening time trial in Monaco.

“We said, okay, there’s a nice opportunity to attack in the final, and Wout was really keen to do that, so we had that plan, and then I was always going to be in the background and do the sprint in case that kind of sat up.”

Van Aert launched his attack with around 1.6km remaining, with Pogačar responding to the move before declining to take a turn, allowing the peloton to close the gap inside the final kilometre.

With Van Aert’s attack neutralised, Visma’s plan switched to Brennan, who had remained sheltered in the bunch as Christophe Laporte guided him through the hectic finale and into position for the sprint.

“And that’s exactly what happened. The guy sat up in front, and then Christophe [Laporte] did a great job of guiding me all the way through the hecticness of that.”

The 21-year-old made the most of his opportunity, powering clear on the rise to the line to take his first Grand Tour stage win ahead of Pau Miquel (Bahrain-Victorious) and Pogačar.

The victory was Brennan’s 20th professional win and his sixth at WorldTour level, adding a Grand Tour stage to a palmarès that already includes this season’s Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

Brennan was also asked whether the performance gave him confidence that he is becoming the type of sprinter capable of succeeding in challenging finales, rather than relying solely on flat finishes.

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s working so far. When the boys can facilitate that and allow me to show myself a little bit, I can’t be more thankful," Brennan said. “I’m super happy to finish it off."

“I mean, hopefully it’s not the last one because it’s nice. I think, again, the boys worked all day really well, and they really, really gave it 100 per cent. They believed in both of us and that we could achieve something successful today. I’m really happy to start off this way.”