Matthew Brennan and his Visma–Lease a Bike teammates finally nailed their timing at the Tour Down Under, and not a moment too soon. The win came on the final stage, which unfolded over eight laps around the tough, undulating circuit concluding on the Stirling Climb.
In a chaotic stage that included a crash caused by kangaroos jumping onto the road, Brennan relied on his teammates and riders from other squads to navigate the final uphill kilometre. When Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) moved between Brennan and his teammate, the 20-year-old smartly used the former world champion as an impromptu leadout, placing himself perfectly for the final run-in to the line.
Kwiatkowski, aiming to launch Sam Watson from a few wheels back, opened up with 300 metres to go with Brennan on his wheel. Brady Gilmore (NSN Cycling) then roared past, prompting Brennan to latch onto his slipstream before kicking clear and powering to victory on the uphill finish.
“We knew that we couldn't do a proper lead-out, so I just followed one or two of the guys all the way through, and they all did their little bit. And then, we got to the finish, and Anton [Schiffer] did a really good turn, and then that left it to Per [Strand Hagenes] to finish it off. So I think everyone timed it really well today, and I'm very happy that I can finish it off,” Brennan told reporters after the podium ceremony.
In the previous three stages won by sprinters, either the team’s timing or positioning misfired. That left the Brit with a second place on stage 1, 12th on stage 3 and 16th on stage 4.
The team sat down with directeur sportif Jasper Mørkøv to analyse the previous finishes, looking at what they “were doing wrong.”
“We watched back all the finishes that we've done recently, and to be honest, it was frustrating, but also it's part of the process,” Brennan said.
“For me, I found it also very unusual to come straight back into racing [and] be as aggressive as you should be in the peloton... A lot of these guys from here have also been racing Nationals, so they're kind of used to the flow a bit more and sometimes it just takes a little bit of time to get back into the rhythm of it.”
So after the debrief, they came up with a plan for the final stage, and the squad knew that having a harder day of racing would play into their favour. The team once again massed at the front of the peloton, monitoring, watching and ready to jump in to close the gap to the breakaway if needed.
“I also wanted to encourage a bit of a harder stage today. I wanted the attackers to go a little bit more, rolling longer, so once it settled down, I was a little bit disappointed. But I think towards the end, it also picked up a little bit when the breakaway got that gap after the unfortunate crash. But you know, you can't really predict two kangaroos jumping across the road.”
When with under 100km to go the kangaroos jumped into the field, there were a number of riders that crashed hard, and Visma-Lease a Bike was not unscathed as it included Menno Huising who usually coordinates the team in the final kilometres.
"I just looked to the right, and then I just saw this big animal, and I thought, oh, you're not meant to be here,” Brennan said of the kangaroo. “All the Aussie boys are like, oh, they all come in pairs, and then all of a sudden the second one comes along and decides he's going to throw himself in front of peloton.”
As for Brennan, the win is a boost to his confidence going into his next racing block, once he returns to Europe.
“I think leading on to the next race, the Classics positioning is going to be pretty chaotic, a bit like that was today, and it's good to kind of open the mind up for things like that,” Brennan added.
His schedule includes Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, races that are obviously “big team goals.”
“If I can also be there to be in a winning position alongside guys like Wout [van Aert], or Christophe [Laporte], then that'll be fantastic. And that's really what we're focusing on this year as a team.”
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