Vuelta a España stage five: Matthew Brennan powers to second sprint victory in four days

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Vuelta a España stage five: Matthew Brennan powers to second sprint victory in four days

British rider Matthew Brennan won his second sprint of the Vuelta a España on stage five, finishing off an expert leadout from his Visma-Lease a Bike team.

The 21-year-old, who is competing in his maiden Grand Tour, won comfortably in Roquetes, delivered to the line by his deluxe teammates Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte.

Despite the presence of a narrow, and at times steep, climb 26km from the finish in southern Catalonia, the stage — the first in Spain this edition — was always expected to finish in a bunch sprint, and Brennan emphasised his status as the race’s fastest man.

Tadej Pogačar, who 24 hours earlier won stage four courtesy of a trademark 50km solo attack, remains in the race lead, with an advantage of 3:21 over his Slovenian compatriot Primož Roglič.

Due to the possibility of echelons — all teams were talking up the possibility of crosswind-induced splits at the start in Falset — the early breakaway of five was caught with exactly 100km remaining.

Ethan Hayter, second on day one and someone who has been in aggressive form ever since, went solo shortly afterwards to claim green jersey points at the intermediate sprint. When he was caught, Andreas Koln of Uno-X Mobility then tried his luck, but he was reeled in on the Puerto de Paüls to set up the sprint finish.

“It’s fantastic, the second (stage) in the bag, first Grand Tour,” Brennan said. “Wout and Christophe are the best guys you can have in the world for these types of things, and they were supporting me all the way in the final.

“On the last corner I lost the wheel a bit, the paint was a little slippery, but thankfully I stayed safe and managed it really well. I’m happy to get my hands in the air. When you’ve got these guys with you it gives you confidence to go and try to achieve more.”

No-one could live with Brennan once he launched his sprint (Josep LAGO / AFP via Getty Images)

“Christophe is the best leadout guy in the world. When you complement that with Wout, it’s such a successful pairing. They’re very cohesive together.

“I know if there is a problem, Wout is a racer and he understands what needs to be done immediately. I don’t have to say anything to any of these guys, it just happens, and that’s what you need to be successful in a race like this.

“I won in this area before (in the 2025 Volta a Catalunya) and I was thinking before that maybe I could do it again. I believed in myself and the team believed in me and I was happy I could finish it off.”

Can Visma keep winning?

With Paris-Roubaix winner Van Aert and Laporte shepherding him to the line, it’s difficult to see how anyone other than Brennan will win the remaining sprint stages in this year’s Vuelta.

The Briton is a Grand Tour debutant, but as he’s been demonstrating for the past 18 months, he’s already one of the sport’s fastest finishers.

What’s equally as impressive is his ability to crest medium difficulty climbs, a trait that opens up a number of different stage opportunities. Stage six’s partly-gravel climb up the Puerto El Bartalo will surely be too tough for him, but Saturday’s flat finish in Xeraco already seems destined to end in a Brennan victory.

“Anything can happen in bike racing and it’s a long race and my first Grand Tour so of course things can go wrong,” Brennan said after the stage.

“But I’ve got a very strong team around me — riders and support staff — to help me and guide me. I’ve trained for a very long time to be in this successful position.”

The dilemma for Visma as the race goes on will be how they balance out the ambitions of their various riders. Van Aert will be keen to win himself, and if Brennan wasn’t here then he would very feasibly be winning the same stages that his young teammate currently is.

As well as Van Aert, Sepp Kuss is eager to taste victory, but as long as the American remains in the GC game — he’s currently fourth overall — winning a mountain stage in the presence of Pogačar might prove difficult.

The clear direction of travel, though, is for Visma and UAE Team Emirates-XRG to dominate the race.