MATTHEW BRENNAN

The 20-year-old sits down with Tom Davidson to relive his breakthrough year – 14 wins in his first season as a pro

- 

There’s a video that keeps popping up on Matthew Brennan’s Instagram feed. It opens with a shot down the Carretera de Girona, an unassuming residential road in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain, onto which bursts the chaos of stage one’s finale of the Volta a Catalunya. “Here comes Brennan,” announces Carlton Kirby excitedly.

And it’s at this point that the 20-year-old switches the video off. “I see the first three seconds, then I scroll past,” says the Visma-Lease a Bike rider. It’s not that he doesn’t like it - quite the opposite - but he just doesn’t need any help remembering his first WorldTour victory. His breakthrough on cycling’s biggest stage remains vivid in his mind. “It was a nice day,” he smiles. “It’s something quite special that will always be with me.”

If Brennan were to watch on, he’d hear Kirby grow more and more animated. “My goodness, Brennan is really grinding into the gap here,” the commentator says, but it seems to be too late - Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Tibor Del Grosso is riding solo towards the gantry, rapidly passing the distance markers: 150m to go, 100m, 50m. Then comes the bike throw. “Oh, he’s got it! He’s absolutely nailed it!” Kirby shouts. Brennan punches the air with both fists. “A genius at work!”

Shattering expectations