Brennan starts WorldTour career with a bang

The Brit was second on debut at the Tour Down Under, and promises a lot more

- Adam Becket

It was not a bad first couple of days for Matthew Brennan as a professional rider. The 19-year-old from Darlington was third at the Villawood Men's Classic, the warm-up race to the Tour Down Under, before finishing second on stage one of the World Tour race itself.

However, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider - one of 12 young Brits to turn pro this year - was not overawed. "It was good but also, because I was on the other side of the world, I didn't really associate it with being in the WorldTour peloton," he explained to CW. "I wasn't afraid of it, it just felt like another race. There was never any doubt of what I could do, it was just keeping up your confidence and rolling with it.

"It was very confidence-inspiring, and it was really nice for the team to get that kind of result. It's something I'll always remember, no matter how far you go in cycling, that your first outing in the job was a podium, so I really enjoyed it."