Matthew Brennan did not manage to follow up his stunning stage 1 success in the Volta a Catalunya with another stage victory 24 hours later, but what was remarkable enough was that the Visma-Lease a Bike racer managed to come within a whisker of doing so, going second.
First place for the 19-year-old ahead of two Alpecin-Deceuninck riders on Monday at San Feliu de Guixols in an uphill three-way sprint battle had already seen Brennan live up to his status as a highly-respected, last-minute substitution for injured team leader Jonas Vingegaard in full.
