As the Santos Tour Down Under moves to the next phase, many of the riders we’ve seen vying for the top spots in the sprints are getting their white flags out as the attention turns to the overall contenders, for stage 3 and 5 at least and probably stage 4 as well. Not so for 19- year-old Matthew Brennan.
The British rider had already drawn the gaze before the Tour Down Under even began, taking to the third step of the podium in the pre-race criterium, the Villawood Men’s Classic. Then he stepped it up a notch, threatening to unseat a celebrating Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora Hansgroge) as he charged up on the left with a huge turn of speed to claim second place and also step into the white jersey of the best young rider, which he maintained with his finish in the bunch on stage 2.
While Britain’s Thomas Gloag is clearly Visma-Lease a Bike’s supported GC rider, coming back into the fray after having to grapple with yet another injury-hit season, his compatriot Brennan has definitely raised some eyebrows at his very first WorldTour race. He also has the potential to raise even more, if he turns out to not only be fast enough to have challenged Welsford on stage 1 but also a good enough climber that he can hold his own through the coming days.
